The Dodgers and Houston Astros now are running well ahead of the West League after a spectacular two weeks for both clubs. But the Astros were slowed down last week by the Texas Rangers, while the Dodgers haven't been slowed down by anybody.
Scott Van Slyke is one of several utility players for the Dodgers who are hitting with authority (TonyTheTiger/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license).
By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles
It was anticipated that the Dodgers would at least strongly contend for the West League championship. That expectation was not attached to the Houston Astros.
Right now, though, those are the two teams on top of the league, and they are more on top of the league now than they were two weeks ago. Through April 26, the Astros held a one-half game lead over the Dodgers, but four other clubs were within four games of the league lead. Now, the Dodgers lead the Astros by one game and no one else is less than four games out of the league lead.
The Astros don't seem to have a lot, but everything was going just right. They had a 10-game winning streak in the West League (and overall) from April 24-May 3, winning five of those by one run. The club that finally slowed them down was the Texas Rangers, who swept them three straight last week in Houston.
The Dodgers don't have everything going just right. How can we say everything is going just right when they have Yasiel Puig, Kenley Jansen, Carl Crawford and Hyun-jin Ryu on the disabled list?
But the Dodgers have four or five guys right now who are hitting everything coming their way. Adrian Gonzalez (1.152 OPS) and Joc Pederson (1.043) are leading the charge. But Justin Turner (1.032) and Alex Guerrero (1.155) both have been fantastic and productive in their utility roles. Andre Ethier, something of a forgotten man at the start of the year, is running a .943 OPS. And Scott Van Slyke, who has always damaged left-handers, now is doing it to right-handers, against whom he has a 1.035 OPS and two homers in 36 at-bats this year.
The Dodgers are going so well now that the San Francisco Giants have heated up and still lost ground. The Giants are 7-3 in the West League during the last two weeks, but they lost a game to the Dodgers, who were 7-1.
Games of April 27
Seattle 3, at Texas 1.
Colorado 5, at Arizona 4.
DODGERS 8, San Francisco 3.
Houston 9, at San Diego 4.
Games of April 28
at Oakland 6, ANGELS 2.
Seattle 2, at Texas 1.
at Arizona 12, Colorado 5.
San Francisco 2, at DODGERS 1.
Houston 14, at San Diego 3.
Games of April 29
ANGELS 6, at Oakland 3.
Seattle 5, at Texas 2.
at Arizona 9, Colorado 1.
at DODGERS 7, San Francisco 3.
Houston 7, at San Diego 2.
Games of April 30
at Houston 3, Seattle 2.
ANGELS 6, at Oakland 5.
Games of May 1
at Houston 4, Seattle 3.
Oakland 7, at Texas 5.
at DODGERS 8, Arizona 0.
at San Diego 14, Colorado 3.
at San Francisco 3, ANGELS 2.
Games of May 2
at Houston 11, Seattle 4.
at Texas 8, Oakland 7, 10 innings.
at DODGERS 6, Arizona 4.
at San Diego 4, Colorado 2.
at San Francisco 5, ANGELS 4.
Games of May 3
Houston 7, at Seattle 6.
Oakland 7, at Texas 1.
at DODGERS 1, Arizona 0, 13 innings.
at San Diego 8, Colorado 6.
at San Francisco 5, ANGELS 0.
Games of May 4
Seattle 3, at ANGELS 2.
Texas 2, at Houston 1.
San Diego 3, at San Francisco 0.
Games of May 5
at ANGELS 5, Seattle 4.
Texas 7, at Houston 1.
at San Francisco 6, San Diego 0.
Games of May 6
at ANGELS 4, Seattle 3.
Texas 11, at Houston 3.
Arizona 13, Colorado 7.
Arizona 5, at Colorado 1.
San Diego 9, at San Francisco 1.
Games of May 7
Houston 3, at ANGELS 2.
at Arizona 11, San Diego 0.
Games of May 8
at ANGELS 2, Houston 0.
at Seattle 4, Oakland 3, 11 innings.
San Diego 6, at Arizona 5.
DODGERS 2, Colorado 1, 6 innings.
Games of May 9
Houston 6, at ANGELS 5.
at Seattle 7, Oakland 2.
San Diego 6, at Arizona 4.
Games of May 10
at Angels 3, Houston 0.
at Seattle 4, Oakland 3.
at Arizona 2, San Diego 1.
DODGERS 9, Colorado 5.
Games of May 11
No games.
Games of May 12
San Francisco 8, at Houston 1.
at ANGELS 5, Colorado 2.
at Seattle 11, San Diego 4.
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