What do you make of a team that is without its most potent offensive weapon, yet nonetheless sends six of its eight batters (discounting the pitcher) to the plate with .300+ averages? Pretty powerful, huh?
What do you think of a batting order that boasts a cleanup hitter without a home run, pacing a lineup last in its league in long balls? Pretty weak, huh?
Thing is, it's the same team. It's the Dodgers, who tonight sent Juan Pierre, Rafael Furcal, Orlando Hudson, Russell Martin, Matt Kemp and Mark Loretta to take their cuts before they got to a batter who wasn't a speedy slap hitter. (Okay, I'm stretching it with Kemp, who clearly has some power; still, that's the Gashouse Gang at work there.)
Martin, slugging an emaciated .319, has nevertheless knocked in 20 runs. That tells you they're not only filling the bases up in front of him, they're getting within 180 feet of the plate. Rookie fill-in outfielder Jamie Hoffman, in 13 plate appearances, has seven RBI. (That's like a 300-RBI pace over a full year.) It's death to the opponent by a thousand cuts.
So you've probably deduced that the Dodgers rank second in the NL in runs scored despite playing in the park that put Don Drysdale in the Hall of Fame. Combined with the best pitching in the senior circuit, the Hollywood Nine has rocketed to the league's best record and an 8.5-game cushion over whatever flotsam and jetsam has bubbled up to second place in the NL West.
It's hard to keep up the singles hitting, but the Dodgers don't have to. Manny Ramirez returns to the lineup in a month. At least the East and Central are competitive.
b
No comments:
Post a Comment