First Division: Dodgers, Cardinals, vie to challenge Giants

The Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals will see a lot of each other in the next 10 days in games that should matter a lot to the First Division. But the San Francisco Giants are off to such a good start in the top tier that there's a chance no one else will matter.

Andre Ethier is swinging a strong left-handed bat for the Dodgers, hitting .317 with a 165 OPS-plus. The Dodgers will need him for the next couple weekends against the St. Louis Cardinals (LiAnna Davis/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Dodgers' greatest natural rival, of course, is the San Francisco Giants. But the team that really has stood in their way the last couple years is the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals have eliminated the Dodgers from the last two years of playoffs, offing them in a six-game National League Championship Series in 2013 and again in a four-game divisional series in 2014. In each of those seasons, though, the Dodgers won four of the seven regular-season meetings between those clubs.

The 2015 version of those games is coming right up – three in St. Louis this weekend and four at Dodger Stadium next weekend. All of these games should be thick with implications in this year's First Division competition, although the San Francisco Giants are threatening to make everyone else irrelevant.

The Giants are off to an 11-2 start in the top tier, winning seven of their nine meetings with the Dodgers and sweeping the Angels earlier in the season. Now, the Giants have added a team from outside Southern California to their hit list, beating the Atlanta Braves, 7-0, Thursday night in the first game of a weekend series in San Francisco.

The Dodgers slightly improved their First Division situation this week by winning two of three from the Braves at Dodger Stadium, but they're still only 4-8 in the division, 6½ games behind the Giants. The Cardinals have played only three games this year in the First Division, going 2-1.

Across the National League, the Cardinals are 31-16 and the Dodgers are 28-18, the two best records going. Both have been NL playoff semifinalists for the last two years.

The Cardinals are the only club across Major League Baseball that has been in the First Division for every year of its existence, starting in 2011. The Dodgers have been a First Division club every year except 2012. But neither club has ever won the First Division, and the Cardinals never came especially close until last year.

The 2014 First Division season ended with the Dodgers and Cardinals meeting in the divisional playoffs. Either club could have captured the First Division with the right outcome in that series. But the Dodgers won just enough of those playoff games – one – to give the Angels a one-half game championship margin over St. Louis.

So, the Dodgers and Cardinals will meet seven times next 10 days with serious implications for the First Division.

Unless the Giants keep doing what they're doing.

Henry Aaron Award: Giants foil Dodgers, again

Just as the Dodgers were about to set the all-time record for Henry Aaron Award title defenses, they ran into their nemesis for all time, the San Francisco Giants. The Giants shut out the Dodgers three straight in San Francisco this week, stopping the Dodgers at six consecutive Aaron defenses.

San Francisco Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner beat the Dodgers for the second time in 2015 this week. The Giants snatched the Henry Aaron Award for the first time this season (SD Dirk/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON

Big Leagues in Los Angeles

You can leave it to the San Francisco Giants to ruin the fun for the Dodgers. But don't get the wrong idea. 

Some folks think the Dodgers are spooked by the Giants. They're not. The Giants don't beat their opponents by spooking them. The Giants win because they are good.

So, the Giants have done it to the Dodgers here, sweeping them three May 19-21 at AT&T Park to take away the Henry Aaron Award just as the Dodgers were poised to set a record with it.

Instead, the Dodgers came through that series heading into a record no one wants. The Dodgers didn't score a run for the entire series, going one-for-17 with runners in scoring position. The first two starting pitchers to take them down for the Giants were 39-year-old right-hander Tim Hudson and the nowadays unremarkable Tim Lincecum (though he is off to a nice start in 2015 — 4-2 with a 2.08 ERA). 

The finale went to Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner, who beat Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw for the second time this season and may, in view of his 2014 World Series performance, be the top pitcher going right now. Bumgarner and Kershaw locked up on one earlier game this year in which neither pitcher took a decision, but, in the course of this season, the Giants won.

The Dodgers entered the series with a record-tying six consecutive Henry Aaron title defenses, then went down by scores of 4-0, 4-0 and 2-0. 

Following the series, the Dodgers returned to Dodger Stadium and failed to score in their first four innings Friday night against the San Diego Padres. With a scoreless fifth inning, the Dodgers would have set their all-time record with 36 consecutive scoreless innings. With a scoreless game, the Dodgers would have been the first team to be shut out four consecutive times for the first time since the Chicago Cubs in 1992.

But Andre Ethier broke that streak for the Dodgers with a run-scoring double in the fifth. Before Ethier stepped in, the Dodgers had gone 133 consecutive batters without scoring a run. The Dodgers ended up beating the Padres Friday night, 2-1.

Anyway, the Giants have the Aaron again after their terrific run with it to end the 2014 season. The Giants have won it for the first time in 2015.

But the Dodgers took a big lead in the Aaron standings, in which they now are 15-10 with 22 days holding the honor. 

Now, it's the Giants' turn after taking down the Dodgers, as they will do to the Dodgers and as the Dodgers will do to them, because that's what these clubs have always done to each other. It's true that the Giants now have beaten the Dodgers in all six games the two clubs have played in San Francisco this season. But that isn't the Giants spooking the Dodgers. 

Remember that the Dodgers beat the Giants two-of-three at Dodger Stadium this year, and the Dodgers beat the Giants in seven of their last nine meetings last year, including five of their last six in San Francisco. 

Whichever club is riding high, that's the club that's going down when these clubs meet. It isn't spooks. It's just a great rivalry.

Henry Aaron Award: Dodgers do a turn

The Henry Aaron Award is in the hands of the Dodgers, who took it from the San Diego Padres on the road last weekend and have held it since. The Padres had taken it from the San Francisco Giants, ending a long run with the prize for the World Champions.

Joc Pederson had a .938 slugging percentage (three homers, a double and a single) in 16 at-bats from April 24 through May 1 (TonyTheTiger/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Dodgers have defended the Henry Aaron Award by winning two of three from the San Francisco Giants this week at Dodger Stadium.

A 7-3 rubber game win over the Giants on April 29 clinched it for the Dodgers, who hit four home runs against right-hander Ryan Vogelsong, all from the left-handed batters box. Joc Pederson, Adrian Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Jimmy Rollins all went long.

A night earlier, in an anticipated meeting between ace left-handers Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Madison Bumgarner of the Giants, the Dodgers sat all of their left-handed hitting and turned in a tepid offensive performance in a 2-1 loss. The Dodgers had won the series opener, 8-5.

That came after the Dodgers won the Aaron by taking two of three on the road from the San Diego Padres.

The Dodgers denied another moment with the Aaron to the Giants, who took it  from the Padres during the final regular season series of 2014, then held it all the way through the World Series. The Giants maintained it through their first series of 2015, winning two of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Then, the Giants met the Padres again for the second series of the new season. After the Giants won the opener, 1-0 (on April 9), the Padres beat them three straight to recapture the Aaron. And the Padres kept it through more than two weeks of remarkably efficient offense.

With their celebrated new lineup, the Padres held the Aaron for three defenses to take the early lead in the standings. They didn't lose it until the Dodgers beat them on April 25 in San Diego to clinch a series victory with an 11-8 victory. In that game, Ethier, Gonzalez, Howie Kendrick and Juan Uribe all homered for the Dodgers.

In 15 games after that 1-0 loss to the Giants, the Padres scored 79 runs (5.3 per game) and stranded only 86 (5.7 per game), a ratio approaching one-to-one. In the National League, particularly, the ratio of runners stranded to runs scored runs closer to two-to-one, generally. Through April 27, NL teams scored 1,150 runs and left 1,958 runners on base. In 2014, NL teams scored 9,600 runs and left 16,646 runners on base.

Through April 27, the Padres were the league's best-hitting team with two outs and runners in scoring position, carding a .318 batting average. No other NL team was batting higher than .269. The Padres drove in 30 runs (and scored 30) in their 95 place appearances on that split.

2015 Henry Aaron (interleague) standings and results through April 29

Standings

                        W    L    P    T    G    D    A
San Francisco   5     5     3     0     7     1     2
Arizona             2     4    2     0     0     0     0
San Diego         10   7    5     1   13     3     4

DODGERS       4     2    2    1     3     1     1

Colorado           2     2    1     0    0     0     0

Chicago (NL)    1     2     1    0    0     0     0

W — Wins. L — Losses. P — Times played for title. T — Titles won. G — Number of games that team held title after winning it. D — Title defenses. A — Title defense attempts.

Results
San Francisco 2, Arizona 1 — April 6-8 at Arizona.

San Diego 3, San Francisco 1 — April 10-12 at San Diego.

San Diego 2, Arizona 1 — April 13-15 at San Diego.

San Diego 2, Chicago (NL) 1 — April 17-19 at Chicago.

San Diego 2, Colorado 2 — April 20-23 at Denver (San Diego, 26-16).

DODGERS 2, San Diego 1 — April 24-26 at San Diego.

DODGERS 2, San Francisco 1 — April 27-29 at Los Angeles.

A Dodgers-Giants division race? About time!

It's been 10 years since the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants duked it out in the National League West. Now, at long last, blaring out of the All-Star break, here it comes.

We thought a National League West race between the Dodgers and San Francisco Giants might materialize in 2012, but it didn't. This season, it has (public domain image).


By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

We're just about to that point at which every club across Major League Baseball has played 100 games, and the last month of Dodgers games will never be confused with 42-8.

But it's certainly good enough for now. And only for now.

For now, the Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants are right with each other on top of the National League West, trading the lead back and forth. The true reason is another June swoon by the Giants after they had won two thirds of their games. At the All-Star break, the Dodgers led the West by one game 54-43. A week following the All-Star game, the Giants hold the one-game lead at 56-44.

We're looking now at an enticing possibility, something we haven't seen in 10 years – a race for the NL West between the Dodgers and the Giants, who last really went toe-to-toe in 2004, when the Dodgers prevailed by two games over the Giants.

The Dodgers teased us a little in 2012, when they started so well, then the new ownership came in and splurged on players mid-season. But a true divisional race never materialized because that Dodgers club never synced together. The Giants won the division by eight games and played a solid postseason to win the World Series for the second time in three years while the Dodgers still hadn't won it since 1988.

Finally, last June, the Dodgers began to gel, hitting that 42-8 stride for the division championship while the Giants suffered the downturn of many defending World Champions. The Dodgers couldn't finish the job in the postseason, losing a six-game National League Championship Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, who then fell to the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.

Now, though, here at mid-season 2014, we've got that race that was happening on two coasts more than 3,000 miles apart for a pretty solid 65 years. The Dodgers and Giants have taken their turns this year, just as we might expect. Through June 8, the Giants were 42-21, 9 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Dodgers, stumbling along at a mere 33-31.

Then, all that Giants hitting went away. From June 8 until the All-Star game, the Giants were 10-22, batting only .234 with a team OPS of .630. The Giants, at their best, aren't a great offensive club, and they were well beyond their powers with a .717 club OPS through June 8. At the break, they were .688 (against a league average of .697). They really lost the home run stroke. Through June 8, they had hit 69 homers in 62 games, and they hit 17 homers in 32 games leading to the break.

The Dodgers were 21-12 from June 8 until the break, but they didn't become that by increasing their offensive potency. Through June 8, they slashed .253/.323/.407/.731. From June 8 until the break, they slashed .267/.339/.380/.718. Those slugging percentages tell us the Dodgers actually hit with less power, and they scored substantially less – 4.3 runs per game through June 8 and 3.9 from June 8 until the break.

But we've seen some pitching lately, have we not? On May 20, the Dodgers' team ERA peaked at 3.69. From then until the break, the staff tossed up a 2.92, bringing the season number down to 3.29. The Dodgers struggled early with their bullpen, which choked up about a dozen games in the first six weeks. Through May 20, Dodgers relievers notched 13 saves, five blown saves, three wins and nine losses. From then until the break, it was 17 saves, two blows, a win and a loss. That bullpen, which was supposed to be a huge strength, really is one now. Kenley Jansen is 29-for-32 in saves (90 percent) and the team is 82 percent against a league average of 68 percent.

The recovery of the Dodgers' bullpen is Reason No. 1 for the club's rise in the standings. And the bullpen isn't even where the Dodgers pitching staff is at its best. Day after day, their starting pitcher is simply better than the other guy. With Josh Beckett throwing the way he was throwing before going on the disabled list, their No. 4 is better than half of the other clubs have at No. 1. The Dodgers should out-pitch the other club every day, and that has been happening.

We could say the Dodgers will go as far as their pitching can take them, which is pretty far, but we don't have to. Imagine what this club can do when it starts hitting.

By many measurements, the Dodgers are an elite offensive club within the NL this year, and they're not nearly as productive as they could be. With only 78 homers in their 102 games, they would have to hit one per game the rest of the year to match last year's total of 138 homers. If those homers come, the Dodgers will light it up.

The Dodgers have a few left-handed hitters who might pick it up a little. Last season, Adrian Gonzalez ran a 124 OPS-plus and now he's carding a 114, while Andre Ethier is down from 120 to 94 and Carl Crawford is down from 107 to 94.

Oddly enough for a club whose best hitters are right-handed, the Dodgers continue as one of the league's worst hitting clubs against left-handed pitchers. Against lefties, the Dodgers split .231/.315/.360/.675 with a relative OPS-plus of 90 compared with the league, which splits .252/.317/.391/.708 against left-handers. Right-handed batters Matt Kemp and Juan Uribe OPS .613 and .606 against lefties.

Yet, the Dodgers are, by the measurements, better offensively than they were last season. In 2013, the Dodgers slashed .264/.326/.396/.722, ranking third, third, sixth and fourth in the NL. But they ranked only seventh in runs with 649. This year, they are slashing .258/.329/.397/.726, ranking second, third, third and third. And they're also third in runs with 424.

The difference in terms of their offensive efficiency, just to pick one, is Dee Gordon, a forgotten man, who, out of nowhere, became a second baseman – and an All-Star second baseman, at that. Gordon has added a running dimension that this club sorely needed. The Dodgers already have stolen 91 bases (and been caught 35 times), with Gordon already swiping 45 bases in 55 attempts. Last year, the Dodgers swiped only 78 bases all year (and were caught 28 times). Their stolen base leader, Carl Crawford, was 15-for-19.

So, the Dodgers approach their last 60 games as a strong contender with a lot of room to grow. It bodes well for the remainder of this season. But there is one thing standing in their way. The Giants.

Editor's note: All advanced statistics in this piece are from or are extrapolated from Baseball-Reference.com, unless otherwise indicated.

Dodgers freeze in first inning

The Dodgers lack luster so far, and it shows in the way they start the game. The Dodgers have scored only 25 runs in the first inning. Only San Diego, among National League clubs, has fewer runs to show for the first frame.

Dee Gordon has made many contributions this season for the Dodgers, but he's still not getting the offense started in the first inning (bridgetds/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

Those arriving so late as to miss the first inning at Dodger Stadium aren't seeing nothing happening.

Nothing happening is the Dodgers offense in the first inning, specifically at home. Across baseball through the years, the first inning is the best inning for scoring, but it's one of the worst this year for the Dodgers. Entering a six-game homestand on June 13, they've scored only 25 first-inning runs all season, the second-lowest total in the National League. Only the San Diego Padres, with 20, are less successful.

If you're able to see the road games because you're able to see the Dodgers on TV, you might not notice it as much. The Dodgers are about like a normal club in the first inning on the road, scoring in the first inning 11 times for a total of 17 runs (they're 8-3 in those games). The average Major League club has scored 31.8 runs in the first inning this year (home and road), so the Dodgers are close to the average just as a road team.

At home, the Dodgers have scored only six times in the first inning, totaling eight runs (They're 2-4 in those games.). When you look at the Dodgers having the second-worst home record in the league at 13-19, it would seem that failing to score in the first inning 26 times has something to do with it.

In 32 home games, the Dodgers have scored three runs or fewer 16 times. They have won one of those games. They have scored two or fewer at home 11 times, and won none of those games. They've scored one run six times, but they've been shut out once.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly suggested in The Los Angeles Times Friday morning that the expanded and refurbished clubhouse at Dodger Stadium might influence how badly the Dodgers are performing at home. That's an intuition and we'll leave that with the Dodgers. What really pops the eye is the numbers for their offensive performers in the first inning, when they emerge from the clubhouse.

Put Dee Gordon in the road greys and he's a snappy player, batting .296 with a .355 on-base percentage. Even at home, he's .274 and .306. But in the first inning, Gordon remains overmatched, going .265 and .294. Gordon has the third most first-inning plate appearances for the Dodgers (51), all at the top of the lineup, and he has scored only five runs. One of those was a solo homer.

But the problem isn't merely that Gordon doesn't get on to create first-inning opportunities, for he can at least boast the third-best batting average for the inning of any Dodgers hitter (with at least 10 first-inning plate appearances). Most of the hitters down the order are even worse.

Hanley Ramirez is a .240 hitter with a .725 OPS in the first inning (58 plate appearances, most on the club.). Andre Ethier is three-for-26 (.188) with one walk, four strikeouts and two RBI in the first inning.

It's no secret that Matt Kemp isn't what he used to be, especially in the first inning. During his should-have-been-MVP season of 2011, he slashed .383/.445/.798/1.243 in the first inning. All of those were his highs for an inning, except for a .455 on-base percentage in the eighth. His first inning runs (23), homers (11) and RBI (36) were his highs for an inning. This year, his first inning is two-for-15 (.133) with no walks and three strikeouts. He has reached base twice, but also grounded into three double plays, so he has a negative output concerning base runners in the first inning.

Not to suggest a correlation, but Kemp's work against left-handed pitching has fallen off the same way. The Dodgers have been turned out by left-handers for at least three years, but Kemp once gave them one guy who could tear lefties apart so badly that they were going to score, anyway. In 2011, he split .341/.461/.682/1.142 against left-handers, with 11 homers and 32 RBI in 132 at-bats, 30 walks and 29 strikeouts.

In 2014 against left-handers, Kemp is .176/.211/.294/.505 with no homers and five RBI in 68 at-bats, three walks and 18 strikeouts. He is literally less than half the hitter he used to be against left-handers.

This year, the Dodgers are batting .213 with a .644 OPS against left-handers, each being better than only the Padres in the NL. Their batting average on balls in play (.260) is barely better than the Padres at a bottom-ranking .259.

But the Dodgers do two things reasonably well against left-handers, and they count: they walk and they can occasionally run into a left-hander and take him out of the park (16 homers). None of those are balls batted into play.

The homers make the Dodgers about average in the NL. The benefit is multiplied, however, because the Dodgers have walked 62 times against 606 plate appearances, the second-highest such proportion in the league against left-handers. So, they are seventh in runs against left-handers (66), though also third in plate appearances (682).

Most of their damage to left-handers comes from the right side, naturally, and especially from Scott Van Slyke, who has six homers in 44 at-bats and a 1.243 OPS against left-handers. As far as how the Dodgers' left-handed hitters do against left-handed pitching, Clayton Kershaw is about as good as any of them.

We got sidetracked just now and began looking at how badly the Dodgers handle left-handers as the discussion got into Kemp. This is supposed to be about how the Dodgers score fewer runs in the first inning than all but one other club in the National League. We don't suggest any kind of cause and effect between the two. We can't even imagine which would be the cause and which would be the effect. We know, also, that struggling against left-handers is a long-term trait of the Dodgers, while we suppose that the first-inning problem will work itself out in the long run of cases this season.

The numbers are too weird to believe right now. The Dodgers, as said before, are 15th in the NL with 25 runs in the first inning. But seven American League teams have scored fewer first-inning runs than the Dodgers, and two of them are the Boston Red Sox (24) and Detroit Tigers (23). Can we really expect it to end this way?

The Red Sox pounced on everyone at the start last year, but their first inning this year reeks of Dustin Pedrioa (.619 OPS in the first inning) and David Ortiz (.631). For the Tigers, Miguel Cabrera is relatively lacking luster with his first-inning OPS of .843, and Victor Martinez is less than that at .669. But along with that, Ian Kinsler (.514) and Torii Hunter (.483) are next to nothing in the first inning.

Allowing that Hunter may be finally showing his age at 39, it's hard to believe that all these elite players between the Dodgers, Red Sox and Tigers are going to continue stammering through the first inning. With about 100 games left in the season, it's early enough to believe that these hitters will work it out.

The Dodgers have a couple hitters somewhat delivering in the first inning. Adrian Gonzalez has a .286 batting average and an .897 OPS, while Yasiel Puig has a .298 batting average and .888 OPS. But neither of those are sky high, and they're not enough to paper over all the other weak first-inning performers.

It should be mentioned that the Dodgers have a ninth-inning problem, as well, and it is serious. They are second from the bottom across baseball in ninth-inning batting average (.174) and OPS (.508). The average team has scored 22.6 ninth-inning runs and the Dodgers have scored 15. They have no one hitting in the ninth. The most culpable by OPS are Gordon (.649), Carl Crawford (.481), Ethier (.478), Van Slyke (.465), Puig (.440), Gonzalez (.269) and Kemp (.241). It would seem that the Dodgers struggle against the top relievers.

The ninth inning and the first inning are different problems. The first inning is never a do-or-die situation, but it always counts and it is the best opportunity for arranging offensive talent to strike against a pitcher who hasn't gotten into his tool box. That's why the first inning is the highest scoring inning. The ninth inning may or may not be crucial. If some team gets well enough on top, it isn't.

The Dodgers are flat-lining at 35-33 this year, and one reason is that they can't get on top of a game at Dodger Stadium. They seldom score in the first inning at home and, even when they do, they've still lost two-thirds of the time.

The probability gremlins discourage a flat prediction that the Dodgers will ultimately reach their level in the first inning. But the Dodgers certainly are paying enough bats to do it. The hot streak we're waiting for could ride on it.

Editor's note: All advanced statistics in this piece are from or are extrapolated from Baseball-Reference.com, unless otherwise indicated.

Dodgers no better than a year ago ... is that good enough?

The Dodgers are a star in the Major League universe again, and it is good to have them back. But they began spring training last week no better than they were when they left the field after last year's National League Championship Series, which makes one question if they can take the next step in 2014.

The Dodgers are back a little earlier than most teams because they will begin the season on March 22 in Australia (Public domain image).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Dodgers have begun training camp with pitchers and catchers, which seem to be among the least of their worries. Not to be a killjoy, considering that the Dodgers again are the No. 1 team in town with the demise of the Lakers, but some skepticism is in order.

We don't normally like skepticism in spring training. Spring is the time of new awakening in a young man's heart, and all that. But the Dodgers have been on such a honeymoon since reaching the National League Championship Series (NLCS) that no one seems to notice that they have improved not one bit during the winter, nor is there sufficient accounting for that freakish 42-8 run the Dodgers needed to rescue their 2013 season.

The Dodgers earned everything they got, and they probably have another 92 wins or more in them for 2014. The National League West doesn't include another club that is absolutely ready to pounce. The Dodgers will be favored to win their division, and they should be.

But if the 2013 Dodgers weren't a World Series team, then the 2014 Dodgers probably aren't one, either. There's an idea going around that the Dodgers somehow were noble over-achievers, taking on the St. Louis Cardinals without Matt Kemp or most of Andre Ethier and Hanley Ramirez before losing the NLCS in six games. There is some merit to it, and there also isn't. After all, the Cardinals didn't have one of their main producers, Allen Craig, and the former ace Chris Carpenter missed the whole year before retiring.

Obviously, though, the strengths of this Dodgers team are compelling. Signing ace left-hander Clayton Kershaw to a seven-year extension for $215 million is a franchise move. Behind him in the rotation, Zack Greinke and Hyun-jin Ryu are as good as it gets for No. 2 and No. 3 starting pitchers.

And the Dodgers bullpen could be top-notch from top to bottom. Kenley Jansen is back to close after 28 saves, a 1.88 ERA and a 0.861 WHIP in 75 appearances. Brian Wilson, the former San Francisco Giants closer, figures to be the eighth-inning man. Behind them, we find right-handers Chris Perez and Brandon League, both experienced as big league closers. The two top lefties, J.P. Howell and Paco Rodriguez, both are good.

Offensively, the roster includes Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp, who all have produced MVP-type seasons. In the outfield, along with Kemp, we find Ethier, Carl Crawford and Yasiel Puig. All four of the outfielders, except for Puig, have produced in winning amounts over multiple Major League seasons, and Puig might be the monstrous talent of them all.

The catcher, A.J. Ellis, is a popular anti-star on this team. If he doesn't keep every pitch in the dirt from getting away, he and the pitching staff are splendid at cutting down the opponent's running game, offing 44 percent of attempting base stealers (28 of 63) against a league average of 28 percent.

Lots to like. There also is quite a bit about which to be wary. The main questions about the Dodgers concern health, aging and defense.

On the health front, we begin with Kemp, who had a period in his life -- roughly 2011 and the first month of 2012 – when he was the best baseball player in the world. As spring training begins in 2014, Kemp is fighting against a career threatening injury to the talus bone in his left ankle. He can't run yet.

Kemp played in only 73 games last season, a few less than Ramirez, who appeared in 86 games. Ramirez produced like no one else in 2013, a 190 OPS-plus. When he played. His durability in 2014 cannot be assumed.

Injury concerns also are at work in the starting rotation, with Josh Beckett and Chad Billingsley both entering spring training as walking wounded. Those are two pretty good names to have at No. 4 and 5 in the starting rotation. Right now, though, those names can't go there. We are more likely to see the names of lefty Paul Maholm, who is a pretty good recent signing, and right-hander Dan Haren, who is as likely as not to spend the season at the chiropractor’s office. Along with Haren's troublesome back, there is some concern about Maholm's left elbow, which caused him to miss time last September. And if neither of them has it, we're back to Stephen Fife and Matt Magill.

Behind the plate, Ellis is entering his age 33 season, that magic moment when all but the very greatest players begin to decline sharply. Ellis already declined from a 118 OPS-plus in 2012 to 93 in 2013, and squatting behind the plate all day isn't conducive to freshness. Behind Ellis is Tim Federowicz, and we shouldn't be too surprised if he is catching the majority of games by September.

Defensively, who knows what to expect from incoming second baseman Alex Guerrero, the former shortstop for the Cuban national team? The transition to second base is hardly a no-brainer, especially when it comes to dealing with that back side runner on the double-play ball to the shortstop. And if he fights the transition, the Dodgers don't have Mark Ellis around anymore to clean it up. He signed with the Cardinals, who brought him in as a fallback position in case Kolten Wong isn't really ready.

The Dodgers also should be concerned about balls hit to the left side of the field, and with lefties Kershaw, Ryu and Maholm in the rotation, those will not be infrequent. Ramirez is minus-3.5 WAR defensively in his career at shortstop. In left field, Crawford lacks range and throwing arm, and teams that don't run on him are missing opportunities for extra bases. Juan Uribe at third base often enough fails the eye test at third base, even though his metrics there are pretty good.

Uribe is something of a metaphor for the Dodgers overall. Maybe synecdoche – a part that is representative of the whole – is more like it. Dodgers fans spent three years complaining about the three-year deal for $21 million to which the club signed Uribe back when they couldn't afford anyone better. But when he crushed that bunny pitch from Atlanta Braves reliever David Carpenter to win the National League Division Series last year, Uribe became a hero to millions. With that, the Dodgers signed Uribe for another two years at $15 million. But Uribe is entering his age 34 season, he contributed little except outs in 2011 and 2012, and he now is a candidate for decline.

The Dodgers aren't exactly candidates for decline. They can expect an exciting regular season during which they will win a lot more than they lose, and it is a major upset and disappointment if they don't return to the playoffs.

But when they get there, are they any better? Will Uribe be able to deliver that towering hit? Will there be enough towering hits across the club to push the Dodgers into the World Series? Because that's what it's really about at this point. It's World Series or bust. And as spring training begins, it's not obvious that the Dodgers have added the pieces to get them there, because they haven't really added anything.

Editor's note: All advanced statistics in this piece are from or are extrapolated from Baseball-Reference.com, unless otherwise indicated.

Shadows, Wacha drop Dodgers into darkness

On a day when hitting conditions in St. Louis were all but impossible, every base counts. The Dodgers gave up a key base on a passed ball, enabling Michael Wacha to outduel Clayton Kershaw in a 1-0 game, helping the St. Louis Cardinals to a 2-0 lead in the National League Championship Series.

A.J. Ellis is a beloved Dodger, but his passed ball Saturday really hurt them in a 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series (Cbl62/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

Game 2 of the National League Championship Series (NLCS) in St. Louis truly was a game of shadows, which isn't to reference Barry Bonds or his inspiration, Mark McGwire, who was much more successful as a St. Louis Cardinals hitter in 1998 than as the Dodgers hitting coach on Saturday afternoon.

Rather, it is to reference shadows, which, combined with two excellent starting pitchers, made hitting a very challenging job. Presumably, and for many of the same reasons, it also made catching difficult. But that doesn't explain how the only run scored in the Cardinals' 1-0 win against the Dodgers.

"I just missed it," Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis said repeatedly to reporters.

The Dodgers now trail the Cardinals, 2-0, in the best-of-seven NLCS that now moves to Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers must win at least one of the next two to force a third game at Dodger Stadium, and they must win at least two of three to move the series back to St. Louis.

David Freese led off the fifth inning for St. Louis Saturday with a double and Matt Adams came to the plate. Ellis set up toward the right-handed batters box waiting for a 1-0 pitch from Clayton Kershaw. One suspects Ellis was looking for a fastball down and away from the left-handed hitter. It was a fastball down over the inner half of the plate. Ellis stabbed at it across his body, the ball glancing off his glove and rolling towards the backstop. Freese took third base.

It the rough and tumble of pitch after pitch, the catcher won't get all of them. Ellis had six passed balls in 113 games behind the plate this year, to go with 45 wild pitches, which he might have blocked but still are assessed to the pitcher.

But on a day when no one was hitting, every free base matters, especially if that free base is third base with less than two out. After Kershaw struck out Adams, John Jay hit a fly ball to medium left field. With Carl Crawford in left field for the Dodgers, they're not stopping Freese, or anyone else. Crawford made the catch, but his throw didn't even challenge Freese.

Cardinals right-hander Michael Wacha is 22 and he has taken only 11 Major League starts, playoffs included, but he's coming on strong. He held the Dodgers to five hits in 6 1/3 innings Saturday. In two postseason starts, he has allowed seven hits and struck out 17. In his last start of the regular season, he didn't allow the Washington Nationals a hit until there were two out in the ninth.

Kershaw is Kershaw, the best left-hander going, but the Cardinals beat him in all three of his starts against him this season. And the Dodgers don't always support him offensively. Kershaw, 16-9, took five losses in quality starts this year, and another five quality starts were wasted in Dodger losses.

The playoffs have been quite a bit the same. Kershaw has allowed one earned run in 19 postseason innings, and he has one win and a loss to show for it. The win came in the Dodgers' 6-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, the only game in which he allowed an earned run.

Neither of these teams is burning it up at the plate. The Dodgers are especially struggling. The Dodgers are batting .184 (14 for 76) and the Cardinals are batting .134 (nine for 64). But the Dodgers are one-for-16 with runners in scoring position, while the Cardinals are two-for-eight with a sacrifice fly.

All season long, the Cardinals were outstanding with runners in scoring position and two outs, batting .305 with an .821 OPS, well above the National League averages of .226 and .673. The Cardinals led the league in both categories. The Dodgers weren't bad, hitting .247 with a .683 OPS. In this series, the Cardinals are one-for-four, and the Dodgers are one-for-seven.

The hitting conditions Saturday, for much of the game, had to be all but impossible. Busch Stadium is built to cast two shadows because there is a space between the roof of the upper deck and the main stadium structure. One could see the pitches coming from light in the batters eye, then through a shadow, then through another patch of light, then into another shadow. Any pitcher who could dance a little worked with a firm advantage.

The Dodgers also went to this game without Hanley Ramirez, who couldn't go because a Joe Kelly pitch that hit him in the ribs Friday got him pretty good, and Andre Ethier, who returned to full-time action Friday in a 13-inning game. So, the Dodgers were facing a hot pitcher throwing through two shadows, and their lineup missed its four and five hitters.

Thus, the Dodgers put quite a lot on their man-child rookie, Yasiel Puig, who finished zero-for-four with four strikeouts as their cleanup hitter. The man behind him, Juan Uribe, has been the Dodgers' best producer in recent days, and he was zero-for-four with three strikeouts.

The Cardinals knew what they were doing. In the Dodgers sixth, Kershaw led off with a single, then Crawford hit a ground ball to second baseman Matt Carpenter, who played it into right field and well over towards first base. Carpenter tried for the force at second on Kershaw and threw wildly, allowing Kershaw to take third and Crawford to take second. But Mark Ellis popped up. Then, the Cardinals took a chance.

They walked Adrian Gonzalez, loading the bases for Puig and Uribe with one out. Puig struck out, swinging at a 3-2 fastball down and away, well out of the strike zone. Then Uribe struck out on four pitches, missing strike three.

The series goes now to Dodger Stadium, and the Dodgers know they can't win the series at home even if they take all three games there. They're in a tough spot. But the NLCS is best-of-seven for a reason. The Dodgers will try to make those reasons matter.

Dodgers bashing everyone -- except left-handed starters

The Dodgers would seem to be unstoppable right now, winning 26 of their last 32 games and improving their standing by 12 games in five weeks. But there is this matter about failing to hit left-handed starters that defies easy explanation.

Contrary to what one might think, Andre Ethier is not the problem for the Dodgers as they struggle against left-handed starters (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON

Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Dodgers are what it's all about in baseball right now, winning 26 of their last 32, winning when they strike out 20 times, winning against teams that appeared in the 2012 playoffs, winning everywhere they go.

From a low point of 30-42 and 9 1/2 games out of first place on June 21, the Dodgers have soared to 56-48 and a 2 1/2-game lead on the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West. Against teams that played in last year’s postseason, the Dodgers are 11-2 during this run. Hits make headlines, and the Dodgers are making plenty of both, batting .285, hitting 35 homers and scoring five runs per game during this 32-game romp.

However, hard as it is to find failure in this Dodgers surge, their 1-0 win at Dodger Stadium against the Cincinnati Reds on July 28 illustrated a flaw. The Dodgers continue to struggle against left-handed starting pitchers, and especially against good left-handed starters. In that 1-0 win on Sunday, the Dodgers struck out 20 times, their most since they moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Reds starter Tony Cingrani struck out 11 of them in seven innings.

During these last 32 games, the Dodgers have faced nine left-handed starters, and they have won their share, going 7-2. However, that's mostly a gift of their own outstanding pitching, as their batting has been little help in these games.

Here's the line for left-handed starters against the Dodgers during the run: 54 2/3 innings, 45 hits, 21 runs, 19 earned runs, 16 walks and 60 strikeouts. Left-handed starters are throwing a 3.13 ERA at the Dodgers during this period, with a WHIP of 1.116.

And this includes three real clunkers pitched to the Dodgers by left-handers of little or no distinction: Mike Kickham of the San Francisco Giants, Drew Pomeranz of the Colorado Rockies and Tyler Skaggs of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Throw those out, and the other six left-handed starts against the Dodgers have issued this line: 42 innings, 22 hits, nine runs, eight earned, eight walks and 48 strikeouts, which comes out to an ERA of 1.75 and a WHIP of 0.731.

In the 23 games started against the Dodgers by right-handers, they have scored 5.56 runs per game. In the nine games started against the Dodgers by left-handers, they have scored 3.67 runs per game.

A couple of peculiarities go along with this. For one, the Dodgers actually are one of the best hitting teams in the National League against left-handers. Their .261 batting average against lefties is best in the league, their .321 on-base percentage ranks third, their .401 slugging average ranks third and their .721 OPS ranks second. For another, their top producers aren't bad at all against lefties. Yasiel Puig is batting .365 against righties and .392 against lefties. Adrian Gonzalez is batting .310 against righties and .279 against lefties. Hanley Ramirez is batting .405 against righties and .311 against lefties.

Even Andre Ethier, who has never been known for hitting lefties, has done his part during this run of games. Though Ethier's .241 batting average against lefties this year closely tracks his lifetime .238 average against them, he is six-for-19 with a walk and five strikeouts against left-handed starters during these last 32 games.

But one can see how the Dodgers weaken against left-handers once they go down the lineup from Puig. Against right-handed starters, the Dodgers line up, two through five, with Puig, Gonzalez, Ramirez and Ethier. This group has demonstrated some prodigious feats of hitting in that alignment against right-handers. But we see that Gonzalez is just a little less productive against lefties, then Ramirez follows him by being nearly 100 batting average points worse against lefties. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly moves Ethier down the order or benches him against lefties and the No. 5 hitter in his place -- be he Jerry Hairston, Juan Uribe, or whoever -- simply doesn't produce.

Why Mattingly ever thinks Uribe is a good selection against left-handers, by the way, is a mystery. Mattingly has managed Uribe since the start of the 2011 season, during which time Uribe is a .167 batter against left-handers (31-for-186), including .204 this year (11-for-54).

While Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti seeks trade deadline upgrades, it would seem that a strong right-handed bat is an obvious target. But the Dodgers might not even have to particularly worry about that, because they have Matt Kemp waiting on the disabled list. No one destroys left-handers like Kemp, who batted .363 against them last season and has hit them for a .340 average throughout his career.

It's hard to criticize the Dodgers right now, and they certainly have the magic. Even striking out 20 times against Cingrani and the Reds, for example, their own pitching, led by lefty starter Chris Campuano, was even better, and there was that man, Puig, with the homer to win it in the 11th.

But they do have a vulnerability here, and a playoff opponent that can present them with left-handed pitches could cause them problems. Assuming, of course, that they reach the playoffs. Thus, there's still a good deal of this season riding on Matt Kemp. There always is. Even, it seems, when he is out of sight.

Is this the Dodgers? Is this for real?

The Dodgers suddenly have won five straight games, all against the National League West. They suddenly have all of their players back. And they suddenly look like they have purpose and possibilities, this last-place team with the highest payroll in the National League. And we ask: Is this real?

Hard to believe, but Clayton Kershaw pitched another dandy game Wednesday night, and the Dodgers actually won it (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike Generic 2.0 license).

By BILL PETERSON

Big Leagues in Los Angeles

So, now we ask ourselves: Is this the start of something?

We look up and see the Dodgers winning five in a row, sweeping three from the San Francisco Giants, winning a game for Clayton Kershaw. We see Hanley Ramirez and Matt Kemp in the lineup, and they're both making plays. We see Andre Ethier run hard out of the batter's box and hustling out doubles. We see Kenley Jansen coming out of the bullpen and not fiddling around. We see the standings, and the Dodgers are only six games out of first place in the NL West.

In short, we see the Dodgers, the Dodgers who we haven't seen all season.

It looks really nice.

Is it real?

It's kind of hard to believe, isn't it? The season is three months old now, and this team hasn't been good for any of it. If Kershaw didn't pitch a shutout, the Dodgers couldn't win for him. The batting order has never been solid. The bullpen has never been reliable. The defense has never been sound. The team often looked lazy.

Up until just now, the Dodgers had an eight-game losing streak and a six-game losing streak, but not even a three-game winning streak since the first week of April.

Up until just now, the Dodgers couldn't beat the teams within the National League West.

Up until just now, the Dodgers were, as manager Don Mattingly unfortunately said a couple of weeks ago, "on autopilot."

Up until just now, the season looked lost.

But, just now, the season is found again. Rediscovered. Unhidden.

Is it real?

It's certainly possible. It just seems so unlikely, even for a club with this talent, because these last three months have conditioned us to figure that the Dodgers somehow were missing something important. And, we remember, it's really been more than that. At the end of business on June 21, the Dodgers were 73-89 in the last year's worth of games, most of them with all of the big names who joined the team late last season. The group of players, over the course of a whole year, never, at any time, showed the ability to win. Injuries were a part of that. A part. The larger part was that this team had absolutely no flight.

But, all of a sudden, they won their last two in San Diego last weekend to gain a split in that series. And then, in came the Giants to Dodger Stadium, and, like that, the Dodgers swept them three games. And it's a funny thing about the Dodgers and the Giants, but they just have this way of striking keys upon each other. So, when the Dodgers sweep the Giants, wherever or however it happens, but particularly after three months of flat-lining baseball, it does put everything into a whole different perspective.

As always, the situation is fluid. As always, it's a long season. As always, tomorrow is another day. As always, it could flip right back.

Is it real?

Wednesday night, the Dodgers beat the Giants, 4-2, completing the three-game sweep. The end went like clockwork. Kershaw went into the ninth inning. When Marco Scutaro singled to start the inning, Mattingly had to hook Kershaw, because Buster Posey was due up. So the left-hander needed to leave after 104 pitches, and he had already allowed a home run to Posey in the game, anyway. Mattingly simply couldn’t let this game get away from Kershaw, who left the mound with a 2.08 ERA and still didn’t have a win since May 20.

So, the reliever had a job to do. We’ve been watching this team all year. We know what that means.

Posey singled against Jansen, moving Scutaro up to second. We’ve been watching this team all year. We know what that means.

But, just now, it meant something different. The reliever then struck out Hunter Pence, then Pablo Sandoval, and Brandon Belt popped up to end the game. Jansen threw nothing but fastballs, cutters and otherwise. He owned those at-bats against Pence, Sandoval and Belt. He owned the ninth inning. It almost didn't seem real.

Is it real?

Well, here's a reality check. After these next four games at Dodger Stadium against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Dodgers will go on the road. They will go to Arizona, Colorado and San Francisco. They will play three division rivals on the road. Even after sweeping the Giants just now, the Dodgers are 8-16 against those teams.

Let's see if the Dodgers can rip that up.

Then, it's real. For sure.

Puig lifts Dodgers, but can they stay up?

The new Dodgers outfielder, Cuban defector Yasiel Puig, has really juiced up a flagging ball club. Better yet, he is going to make outfielders with big contracts fight for playing time. With two first-place clubs coming to Dodger Stadium in the next week, see if the Dodgers can make a move.

Yasiel Puig has added a new level of energy to the Dodgers two days into his big league career (Spanneraol/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license).

By BILL PETERSON

Big Leagues in Los Angeles

We're signing up for that chorus singing the praises of Yaseil Puig, his major league debut, and what it means for the Dodgers. Suddenly, and for however long, the Dodgers look like a team that might play a high level of baseball. Imagine the Dodgers, with the most errors in baseball, winning a game on a defensive play.

Sitting here on the morning of June 5, the Dodgers have a chance to move out of the National League West basement this evening as they attempt a three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium. Trying not to go Pollyanna about this under-performing club, it's one sign among many that the worst is over for the Dodgers, and that they're not far from making a move. Could be wrong, of course. Been wrong many times before. The game is based in failure. 

We'll find out soon enough, because this proposal is being put to the test right away. The remainder of the present Dodgers home stand involves two visiting first place teams -- the Atlanta Braves of the NL East and the Arizona Diamondbacks of the NL West. If there's anything real in this new pulse we're feeling, it will be revealed in the next week, because it has been characteristic of the Dodgers that they don't handle teams their own size, which is the main reason they're not really that size. Against clubs that are .500 or better at this moment, no NL club is worse than the Dodgers at 11-22. They're not as good as they need to be against losing teams, either (only 14-10), but if you can't at least come in around even against the winners, the losing teams will not genuflect in your presence. They'll know you can be had.

So, they've been getting the Dodgers, much more than they should. Another group of teams that are getting the Dodgers much more than they should consists of their NL West brethren, against whom the Dodgers, on the strength of two wins in the last two days against San Diego, now are 8-18. 

This club's problems have been much discussed. Injuries have dug so deep into the pitching staff that a club wondering what to do with eight starters in the winter has wound up giving starts to Matt Magill and Stephen Fife. Too many of Brandon League's fastballs come in too high, so he has a 4.84 ERA as a closer. The Dodgers are fourth in the league in on-base percentage (.325), but only 13th in runs per game (3.61). With runners in scoring position (RISP), the Dodgers are 13th in the NL in batting average (.234), 14th in OPS (.636) and 15th, dead last, in slugging percentage (.315). 

When we crack open those RISP numbers a little bit, we see a lot of what we've seen on the field. With RISP and two out, the Dodgers are a middling team in the NL -- sixth in batting average (.234) and eighth in OPS (.639). Notice that the batting average and OPS are about the same either way, but the Dodgers are six and seven rungs lower in the NL when we look at all RISP situations compared with RISP and two out. That's what the numbers look like for a club that consistently fails to get the runner in from third with less than two out. No other team in the NL kills its own rallies quite like the Dodgers.

Here's a worthwhile comparison, considering that Arizona is the first-place team in the NL West. With runners in scoring position and two out, no one is worse than the Diamondbacks -- dead last in batting average (.183), dead last in OPS (.585), 12th in on-base percentage (.299) and 14th in slugging percentage (.286). The Diamondbacks aren't where they are because they get big two-out hits. They get big one-out hits. They get big no-out hits. They keep rallies going and put up crooked numbers. In all RISP situations, look how the Diamondbacks rise in the NL rankings -- still only 10th in batting average (.241), but seventh in on-base percentage (.326), seventh in slugging average (.393) and fifth in OPS (.719). 

Put a little differently, here are a couple of quick charts. First, here's how the Diamondbacks and Dodgers chart with RISP and two out:

Team         AB       H      TB      R     BB+HB   BA     OBP     SLG   OPS     

D'Backs    224      41      64      59        37       .183   .299      .286    .585

Dodgers    224      52      68      60        35       .232   .336      .304    .639

The Dodgers are a little better with RISP and two out, right in the middle of the NL, while the Diamondbacks are at the bottom. Now, compare these two clubs with RISP and less than two out:

Team         AB       H      TB      R     BB+HB   BA     OBP     SLG     OPS

D'Backs    244      72      120    131      32       .295    .392     .491     .883 

Dodgers    237      56        77     91      32       .236    .341     .324     .665

Look at that difference in scoring with RISP and less than two outs. The Diamondbacks have scored 40 more runs in about the same number of at-bats. Pretty much covers the whole difference in scoring this year between the Diamondbacks, who have scored 250 runs, and the Dodgers, who have scored 206.

We have complained here before that no one chokes up a rally the way Matt Kemp has been doing it this year, and our only regret was that we didn't include Andre Ethier in that same breath. But it's a slight regret, because Ethier isn't on the same plane as Kemp. If Kemp is gone and Ethier plays at the top of his game, then Ethier still isn't the Dodgers' best guy. Adrian Gonzalez is better. But if Kemp is at the top of his game, he's the best player on any team. Kemp is an elite player, whereas Ethier is the third best hitter on a contending team. So, we expect more from Kemp. We haven't been getting it. With RISP and less than two out, Kemp is four-for-32, all singles, with 14 strikeouts.

A couple of weeks ago, when Dodgers manager Don Mattingly started telling on his players in the media -- and they definitely had it coming -- he did Kemp a real favor by revealing that the outfielder still doesn't have himself right from reconstructive surgery on his front shoulder during the offseason. Suddenly, the fans and commentators began to see Kemp and his struggles in a new light. The man just wasn't there physically. Watching him talk to himself on the way to the dugout after another strikeout with one out and a man on second, we already knew he wasn't there mentally. Now, we began to kind of understand why.

If ever there might be gratitude about an injury, Kemp's slight pull of his right hamstring last week might be such a case. From the cheap seats, he already looked like he needed to get away. Now, he can rest his head and his shoulder while healing his hammy. Shutting Kemp down for a couple of weeks right now is the smart play on its own merits.

When the Dodgers also had to disable Carl Crawford, they made a desperate play. The Dodgers didn't want to call up Puig, the 22-year-old Cuban defector who they signed last year for seven years at $42 million. Seeing that size and speed in spring training, and seeing all that he did, batting .526 in the Cactus League, the Dodgers just wanted him to develop for a year. The Dodgers were right for wanting that, and they were just as right for calling him up because they had to.

What we've seen in two days of Puig in right field at Dodger Stadium is movie stuff. First game, he singled in his first at-bat, then he ended the game with a powerful throw to double a runner off first base. Second game, two home runs and five RBI. Two Dodger wins.

And, for all their trouble this year, we suddenly see a Dodgers team with a breath and a heartbeat. Then, when we look at the standings, they're only 7 1/2 games out. 

Suddenly, Hanley Ramirez is back, Puig is up, Kemp is getting straightened out and we're seeing contributions from Scott Van Slyke. Now, outfielders with big contracts are going to fight for playing time. See if we get a little more assertiveness out there. And there's still a schedule of 105 games left to be played.

The young outfielder, Puig, has given the Dodgers a nice lift. See if they can run with it.