Man, that series with the Pirates did the trick. The only problem is, while the Dodgers have won seven of their last ten, the Padres have matched them and the Diamondback have topped it with nine wins out of their last ten. Still, the Dodgers broke up a three way tie for first to take a half game lead with their win last night. Derek Lowe took a no hitter into the seventh inning before the wheels fell of the wagon. Four runs later and the Dodgers were barely hanging on but one of my favorite players, Jon Broxton, held on to pick up his first save of the season.
And now it’s the Padres that the Dodgers stop by to visit. This weeks three game series is pretty big and whoever comes out on top will probably have at least a share of first place. Jason Schmidt makes his return tonight and he’ll face Chris Young. While you never want throw a game away, Thursday’s game might be pretty close with Peavy going up against Kuo. So this first game could mean the difference between sereis win and a series loss.
And how about Russ Martin, who could be an early MVP candidate as the best hitter on one of the best team’s in baseball. An .894 OPS from your catcher is pretty impressive but what the Dodgers have to make sure is, that they don’t tire him out. So far though, he’s been catching about every game, which is fine now, but it might not be as good come August.
Jeff Kent hasn’t hit a homerun since May 25th yet he still leads the team with eight. Since that game though, he’s seen his batting average drop from .295 to .259 and he’s only racked up two hits in his last nine games. If the Dodgers are going to have a chance aganst the Padres, they need Kent to step up.
In the preseason, I said Randy Wolf may be the team’s most important pitcher because how he does may parallel how the Dodgers are doing. Well, he’s 7-3 and he has 74 strikeouts in 71 innings. He’s won four in a row and he hasn’t been touched up hard since his last start on May 30 A .176 batting average against left handed hitters will do that and this is the kind of guy who, if he’s throwing well, really frustrates a manager because it makes him think twice about putting even his best left handed bats into the lineup.
Anyway, we’re 57 games in and if you had asked me I’d take 34-23 and a razor thin lead for first, I’d be all over it. With things being so tight, the Dodgers can’t let up though.
