Trending Up, Trending Down: Clayton Kershaw Reigns Supreme
Trending Up:
Clayton Kershaw: Making two starts this week, one against the Rockies and the other against the Cardinals, Kershaw continued to show why he’s still the best pitcher in baseball.
In 15 combined innings, he limited the opposition to six hits, two earned runs, three walks, and 18 strikeouts (1.20 ERA, 0.60 WHIP). With back-to-back dominant performances, his ERA and WHIP on the season lowered to 3.36 and 1.06, respectively.
Joc Pederson: Starting in all eight games this week, Pederson reached base 12 times in 36 plate appearances (.333 on-base percentage). He accumulated eight hits total (four home runs, one triple, one double), along with drawing three walks and getting hit by a pitch.
Because of the tremendous stretch, his slash line for the year increased significantly to .258/.383/.577.
Adrian Gonzalez: Getting seven starts and playing in eight games total, Gonzalez continued his strong season with 10 hits in 27-at bats (.370 batting average). He knocked four doubles, one home run, and drew five walks to help boost his batting line to .330/.409/.596 for the season.
Honorable Mentions:
Alex Guerrero: Despite going just 3-for-13 in six games this week, Guerrero slugged one of the more clutch home runs in recent memory.
With two outs in the top of the ninth, he hit a go-ahead grand slam off Rockies’ reliever Rafael Betancourt to give the Dodgers a 9-8 lead to prevent Los Angeles from losing both games on the day.
Brett Anderson: In his lone start of the week against the Cardinals, Anderson suffered a tough-luck loss, allowing just four hits and two earned runs in 7.2 innings pitched while striking out five.
Kenley Jansen: Appearing in two games out of the bullpen, Jansen recorded two saves in two innings pitched, allowing just one hit and striking out three.
[divide]Don Mattingly Not Scared Of The Cardinals
