By Jon Weisman
So, this “winning against winning teams” thing just gets more and more challenging for these Dodgers.
If only the Dodgers had lost Sunday to San Diego, which was 32-32 entering the game, that would have made Los Angeles 7-5 against that particular winning team. Instead, the Dodgers won, so they’re 8-4 against the Padres, but the Padres are a losing team, so who cares, right?
Before that, the Dodgers swept the Diamondbacks, which was a big mistake. Los Angeles is 7-2 against Arizona, but the Diamondbacks are 30-32, so it doesn’t matter. Had the Dodgers lost two out of three, they’d be 5-4 against a 32-30 Arizona team, and then we’d be cooking with gas.
Colorado is 24-25 when it doesn’t play the Dodgers, who have nine worthless wins in 13 games against the Rockies, so those victories were a complete wasted effort. Same with the Dodgers’ series victory last month over 30-33 Atlanta.
In contrast … we have the San Francisco Giants, the team that has dominated the Dodgers in 2015 by going 7-2 against their top rival. The Giants are so good, they don’t even need to have a winning record against the rest of the big-league teams they play, going 28-29 in their non-Dodger games. San Francisco is 3-4 against San Diego, 3-6 against Colorado and 3-7 against Arizona, showcasing their baseball grit and savvy.
San Francisco has also fared far better than Los Angeles against National League-leading St. Louis, posting a perfect 0-0 record compared with the Dodgers’ 2-5 mark.
That leaves the Giants with a 13-7 record against winning teams. They are 21-23 against losing teams, as opposed to the Dodgers’ 33-14 mark, but those are just footnote games am I right?
Starting tonight, the Giants play four games with 28-35 Seattle (which was swept in an April series in Los Angeles), while the Dodgers have a quartet of contests against 33-30 Texas. Heaven help the Dodgers: If they sweep the Rangers, all they’ll have done is take out another losing team. If they split or lose the series, they’ll have been punched out by yet another above-.500 team. Only if the Dodgers win exactly three out of four against the Rangers — no more, no less — will they begun to uncapsize their sinking, 37-26, second-best-record-in-MLB ship.
If that happens, it’ll be just in time. This weekend, San Francisco will return to Los Angeles for a three-game series, for which the Dodgers should be in first place in the NL West, but everyone will be talking about how much better the Giants are.
#sarcasm
Craig Gary Phillips (@craigary)
Hah. It is funny, I recall a Dodgers fan on another blog saying this past week, “sweeping the Diamondbacks is nothing to be proud of, anything less would be a joke” or something along those lines. But they just can’t beat the Giants/… who then proceed to get swept at home by those same Diamondbacks. But they’re still superior to the Dodgers because their season record so far is better. Or something? I’m losing track of how this works. Oh yes, mostly that it may not matter. (Dodgers won season series vs SF and Cardinals last year, barely but they did, and look how much that mattered in the post-season.) Maybe not winning the season series vs them is the key to winning the post-season? Or something.
Don Bright
I don’t care how they fare against any one particular team in the regular season, but if they play under 500 ball in playoffs, even against the worst team, that means they go home, and that’s all that matters.
Just like it’s great if Kershaw is the best pitcher in the game in the regular season, but he needs to do what Bumgarner did last year in the playoffs to become a legend.
Jon Weisman
Well, yeah. But since we’re 3 1/2 months from October and this has been a huge part of the conversation about the 2015 Dodgers, it seemed worth addressing.
Don Bright
Yes, I understand, I too got caught up in it before the Cards series, then realized, it doesn’t matter much, because things will be different in the playoffs. I think the Cards faced Kershaw and Greinke once each in those 7 games, in a 5 or 7 game series , they would face them each twice. That said, Kershaw needs to get over whatever it is the Cards have on him the last two postseasons.
Mark Hagerstrom
Thanks for this. As well, I think that the West Division bias also comes into play in people’s minds. There are a lot of average teams in the West, who would be good, if we only stopped beating them.
Supervillain Corey (@SuperVillainMe)
It feels like the Dodgers have only been playing Arizona, San Diego, and Colorado this year. I’m so tired of watching the NL West teams. Enough with this unbalanced schedule!
oldbrooklynfan
Which proves you can never predict who will win any particular game.
David Fraunfelder
My God I can’t take it any longer! I’m done! Finished! Completely fed up!
The “jibberjabbers were talking about what they wore to the prom!
Vince Scully would be turning over in his grave, if he was in it! And this just might send him there!
David Fraunfelder
They don’t call the game! They are like teen age girls at a slumber party!
David Fraunfelder
For over 60 years you have had the “greatest” baseball announcer EVER!
Didn’t you even learn at thing? Did you ever even listen to him?
David Fraunfelder
Since the end of the O’Malley era the Dodgers have been “bush league”!
I’m done, finished, moving on! ADIOS!
Jon Weisman
Whoa, what happened here?