Red Hot One Hundred

Red Hot One Hundred is not only Viewtiful Joe's special move, but could be used to describe Randy Wolf's amazing month where he has won 5 straight decisions and finally earning his 100th career win. He was amazing through 7 innings and has been the best starting pitcher on the Dodgers pitching staff both both sides of the ball. The hope now is that Wolf will be the Kuroda of this year and finish strong and dominate in the playoffs as well. Because the way Billingsley has been pitching and bad luck that Kershaw has been getting in the run-support department, I would promote Wolf to be the 1st or 2nd pitcher if the playoffs started today.

You have to ride the horse that is hot, especially during the playoffs. What Billingsley did in the beginning of the season doesn't matter if he doesn't rediscover it soon. If the playoffs started today, I would go with Wolf, Billingsley, Kershaw, and Garland (and Kuroda to round off the 5 in case the Dodgers make it to the NLCS). Right now, our top 2 of Billingsley and Kershaw is not better than the Cards (Wainwright, Carpenter), Phillies (Lee, Hamels), and Giants (Lincecum and Cain). Sure they have greater potential than the other combos, but that is because they haven't even come close to reaching their full potential. That is not good if you want to win now.


Of course, the problem with the team now that they are in a slump is the offense hasn't been producing run despite getting a lot of base hits. They still suffer from mad situational hitting and making unproductive outs with runners on base. Sacrifices are something this team cannot take for granted. I feel the Angels are much better at playing small ball despite being a power hitting team. Unfortunately, the Dodgers don't have someone like Chone Figgins, one of my favorite offensive players. Not only is he a pretty good contact hitter, Figs is also an excellent bunter with nice speed. Of course, the Dodgers don't have the luxury of squandering opportunities in the playoffs, especially if they face off against pitchers like Wainwright, Carpenter, Lee, Hamels, and probably Lincecum and Cain. Get hot soon, or go home.

Finally!!!

Photo by Jack Dempsey, AP

After bashing James Loney last night, he finally made me eat my words, at least for one night. The Garbage Man hit a 3-run home run in the fourth inning, his first since July 10th, or last time the swallows came back to San Juan Capistrano. Ethier had his 6th multi-homer game of the season, hitting his 26th and 27th, and could go .300/30/100 this season. Wolf pitched another masterpiece and earned his third victory in a row, this time without having to provide his own run support. After Kershaw had a wonderful month and a half, Wolf has been the proxy ace in the pitching staff in August, especially with the injury to Kuroda and disappearance of early-season Billingsley.

The Dodgers push the Rockies back to 3 games and have a chance to push them all the way back to 4 games by winning the rubber-game tomorrow.

"We look at it as all the pressure's on them. They're supposed to win the division. They were up by 15 1/2 . We're just messing around, I guess." -Troy Tulowitzki

Oh Troy. If the Rockies lose tomorrow, they could see their run cut short. Since the Jim Tracy has taken over, the Rockies have not hit a wall yet. That wall could come really soon. After tomorrow's game, they face the best of the Giants pitching staff, Lincecum, Cain, and a resurgent Zito at San Francisco, where the Giants have been swallowing up every team that they played against. Meanwhile, the Dodgers face the Reds on the road, and hopefully could get their licks against Homer Bailey and Bronson Arroyo. If somehow, the Dodgers take tomorrow's matinee and 2 out of 3 from the Reds, and the Rockies lose 3 out of the 3 from the Giants, the lead would be 6 games going into the final month of the season. If that should happen, the Rockies would have the Giants and Marlins chasing them down in the wildcard race.