The Dodgers are now eight games over .500 and four games up in the NL West, both of which are season highs. Things are looking up, but there’s no doubt that the Dodgers have been playing perfect baseball the last few weeks. They can’t let up now though.
The one blemish to the series happened on Friday. The Dodgers ran into Jason Schmidt and Brad Penny was off of his game. Penny gave up six runs in six innings and after an RBI ground out by Nomar Garciaparra, the Dodgers didn’t score again until the eighth inning. By then, it was pretty much over with.
For a while, the Dodgers had the best offense in baseball and they showed why on Saturday. They pummelled the Giants and had ten runs up on the board by the end of the second inning. J.D. Drew drove in three runs and Nomar and Rafael Furcal each scored three times. Andre Ethier also had a very good game. He had four hits and three RBIs. Greg Maddux didn’t have his best stuff in the 13-7 win, but he picked up the win regardless.
The Dodgers made it two straight yesterday. J.D. Drew put the Dodgers on the board early with a two run shot in the first and the Giants didn’t score on Derek Lowe until the ninth inning. Lowe improved to 11-8 and Nomar also homered in the 5-2 win.
This is a huge week. Three against the Padres then three against the Diamondbacks, the two teams that sit four games behind us. If we can win both of these series, it would go a long way towards the Dodgers locking up the NL West.
