August in Pittsburgh is a lot like April vs. Pittsburgh, with the Dodgers once again making every Pirate irate with defeat.
Tonight, it was Los Angeles 9, Pittsburgh 3, giving the Dodgers 20 runs and two eight-inning performances from their starting pitchers in their past two games.
Clayton Kershaw allowed runs in 37.5 percent of his innings tonight but was 100 percent in the win column, allowing six hits and no walks while striking out eight. The Dodgers knocked out 15 hits, three each by Shane Victorino and Andre Ethier and two apiece more by Mark Ellis, Hanley Ramirez and Kershaw himself. Since August 6, Victorino is 15 for 40 (.300) with four walks, while Ramirez is 11 for 25 (.440) with two walks on the road trip.
Luck also continues to be on the Dodgers side this week. Three months after Ellis was injured in a second-base collision, it was Pirates second baseman Neil Walker who was injured by Ellis in a mashup. Walker is now sidelined with an injury to his right hand.
San Francisco and Arizona lost. It might have snuck up on you, but Los Angeles has won 17 of its past 26 and now has the fourth-best record in the National League and undisputed playoff position for the first time in more than a month.
KT
Makes you feel good doesn’t it.
^_^
Anonymous
lets just play on the road the rest of the season
KT
I’ll do that one one better…Let’s just play in the Eastern time zone for the rest of the year
Good Night/Day John
Anonymous
They are welcome to come over here ;)
Snake Smith
THIS^ would be great. I’ve enjoyed the games the past week that weren’t past my bedtime. But now that the end of the season is getting closer and the season is getting more interesting, looks like I’m in for some long nights of driving around aimlessly or sitting and listening to XM in my car.
Jon Weisman
NPUT
Linkmeister
Oy! Variety-speak snuck over from Jon’s paying job!
Vail Beach
Meanwhile, can you say Cabrera ankled Frisco?
Anonymous
15/40 = 3/8 = .375
Anonymous
Your right, Victorino is hitting .375 in that stretch, not .300. That seemed a bit low on first blush. Thanks for pointing that out.