Time to Man Up

                                      If the Dodgers are going to win the west, and indeed, just make the playoffs, it is time for the entire team to man up and get r done! They have been mediocre for the last few months and still are in first place. That is more a reflection on the play of their pursuers than great play on their part. So many things have gone wrong. For one, it seemed like the entire starting lineup went cold at the same time. 

                                     Teo and Edman with nagging injuries. Freeman hitting like a shadow of himself. Ohtani’s sudden urge to strikeout more than he has any year in the past. Injuries to the pitching staff, and a lack of production from players expected to produce. To quote an old horse racing term, it is time to go to the whip. They have 49 games left. 6 of them with the second place Padres. There are 11 series left in the season after they finish with the Cardinals. 

                                     The only teams they face with winning records over that time are the Jays, Padres, and the Reds. The Giants are just 1 game under .500 right now. The Rockies, D-Backs, Angels, Pirates and Orioles are all under. 12 of their remaining 49 games are against winning teams. That could change if the Giants and D-Backs play better the next few weeks. LA can get back on track. But they need to play a much better brand of baseball than they are now doing. 

                                    Can they do it? Based on their track record, they can. August has historically been the team’s best month for several years. They are 2-2 four games in. Five games left on the homestand. Sheehan is pitching tonight, and Ohtani gets the start on Sunday, with Wrobo probably pitching after he is done. There is really no help at AAA. They are going to have to win this with the players currently on the 40-man roster. It is a shame though that Ryan Ward has never gotten a shot. He definitely can hit. 

                                   They really need a win tonight. San Diego usually has some trouble with the D-Backs, but anything can happen. Teams get hot and sometimes they go frigid. One thing they have not done lately is take advantage when the Padres do lose. The game ended a little while ago. The Dodger bats woke up and they pounded out 17 hits. Max and Teo each hit 2 home runs. They had extra base hits, 4 doubles and 2 homers.

                                   Mookie got off of the schneid with a 3-hit game, Teo had 3 hits, all for extra bases, and Max had 4. First five hitters in the lineup had 12 of the teams 17 hits. Freeman did not have a hit but drove in 2 with a pair of sac-flies. Pages had a pair of doubles and Freeland had 2 hits and an RBI. Conforto was 1-5 with a ribbie. Sheehan went 5 and got the win. He allowed just 2 runs. Diaz was touched up for 3. 

                               Ohtani gets the start in tomorrow’s final game of the series. They get a day off on Thursday then the Jays come in for 3 before the Dodgers go down the 5 freeway to play the Angels for 3 and then get the Padres at home for three. The offense looked good tonight. The pitching was adequate. The bullpen was touched up for 4 runs. That needs to be a lot cleaner. In Arizona, the Padres rallied in the 11th inning to take a lead on Arizona. So, the Dodger win looms even larger. Padres scored 5 in the 11th for a 10-5 win over Arizona.  They get back in the win column with a much-needed big performance by the offense. If the offense gets cranked up again, the Dodgers will be a force to recon with in the playoffs. 48 games left. The time to kick it into gear is now.  As the Hulkster would say, ” It’s go time brother!”

                                                                                     Affiliate Scores

                                      El Paso 8 OKC 7: Comets snatched defeat from the jaws of victory as after taking a 6-2 lead by the second inning, El Paso chipped away and won the game in the bottom of the 9th against reliever, Jose Rodriguez. He gave up a leadoff double, then walked the next batter. An error on a sac bunt by Hoese allowed the tying run to score. The next hitter hit a sac fly to score the winning run. Comets had 11 hits, 3 doubles and a homer by Dean, his 6th. Sauer went 4 and gave up 4. Kopp gave up 2 in his third of an inning of work. Bobby Miller pitched a clean 8th. 

                                     Corpus Christie 7 Tulsa 5. The Hooks took a 7-1 lead by the 6th inning. Tulsa scored 2 in the 7th and 2 in the 9th, but their comeback fell short. Ferris gave up 4 runs, just 2 of them earned in his 5-inning stint. He struck out 7 and walked just 1. Cabrera gave up 3 runs in his one inning. The Drillers out hit the Hooks, 12-10. Myers, Ehrhard, Newell and McLain had multi-hit games. They had 3 doubles and Myers hit his 5th homer. 

                                     Lansing 6 Great Lakes 3: This game was tied after 9 innings, 1-1. Lansing scored 5 runs in the 10th to win it. Errors set the table for the Lugnuts and only 1 of their 5 runs scored was earned. The victim of this bad play was Myles Caba who only gave up 2 hits. Gelof was the only Loon with multiple hits. Wagner slugged his 12th homer. 

                                      Rancho 6 Lake Elsinore 1: Rancho jumped out to a 5-1 lead by the third and won the opener of the series. The Quakes had just 5 hits, 2 of them homers, Meza, Harlan. The also drew 7 walks. They struck out 11 times, but their 5 pitchers struck out 15 Lake Elsinore batters.