Dodgers taking off the training wheels

Last week, the Dodgers faced two critical series at Chavez Ravine.

Division rival San Francisco came into town followed by baseball’s best team – the Chicago Cubs.

When the dust had settled, the Dodgers had won four of six, taking both series and cling to a two-game lead in the National League West.

And though veterans played critical roles, it was the young guns who played beyond their years to hold off the Giants and the Cubs.

Julio Urias, Brock Stewart, Ross Stripling and Kenta Maeda turned in solid mound performances, pitching like they were seasoned veterans. The veteran bullpen, anchored by Joe Blanton, Jose Baez, Jesse Chavez, Adam Liberatore and Kenley Jansen, has emerged as one of the stingiest in the league.

At the plate, rookies Cory Seager, Andrew Toles and Rob Segedin have delivered, despite facing the likes of Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Matt Moore and John Lester. Seager is a front-running candidate for Rookie of the Year and is in the conversation for NL MVP.

Players that are driving the Dodgers race for the pennant are not far removed from playing ball in places like Rancho Cucamonga, Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

It has been well documented that the Dodgers have put more players on the disabled list than any in baseball – yet the recent arrivals have stepped in to fill the voids.

And while the rooks have shined, veterans such as Adrian Gonzalez, Justin Turner, Chase Utley, Howie Kendrick and Yasmani Grandal have been steady producers.

The Dodgers have made this improbable run to first place without ace pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who stepped up his rehab by throwing from the mound this week. He is scheduled to pitch a minor league rehab game and the Dodgers are hoping to get him back for a stretch run.

Dodgers an unlikely front runner

Adrian Gonzalez found his power stroke last night, hitting two homers as the Dodgers completed a sweep of the Phillies to move 1.5 games ahead of San Francisco in the NL West.

Los Angeles has made this run to catch and pass the Giants because San Francisco has been in a free fall since the All-Star break and the Dodgers have been wielding some very hot bats.

Since the break, five Dodgers are hitting above .300 (Seager, Kendrick, Turner, Pederson, Gonzalez) and Yasmani Grandal has warmed up, bringing his average to .288 after hovering around .200 most of the year.

Seven Dodgers are in double figures with HRs with Turner and Seager battling for the team lead.

But the most amazing part of the Dodgers second-half run has been a pitching staff that couldn’t be recognized in a lineup.

Kenta Maeda (12-7) and Scott Kazmir (10-6) have been the anchors since Clayton Kershaw (11-2) went on the DL but Brett Anderson, Ross Stripling, Bud Norris, Brandon McCarthy, Jose Urias and a strong bullpen have kept the Dodgers in the running.

Los Angeles acquired Rich Hill (9-3, 2.25 ERA) from Oakland but he is still in Arizona trying to get his blisters to heal.

If Kershaw and Hill return for the stretch run the Dodgers may have enough pitching to challenge the likes of Chicago, Washington, San Francisco and St. Louis. The Dodgers have a good shot to get a Wild Card slot if they can’t hold off the Giants in the NL West.

The Dodgers get San Francisco and Chicago next week, which should give us a good indication of how we match up.

Dodgers draw even with Giants

That eight-game lead San Francisco held in the National League West on June 26?

Gone.

The Dodgers caught the Giants in the NL West standings last night, drilling the Phillies while the Giants were getting blanked in Miami.

The Dodgers have made a run for a fourth consecutive NL West title with a power surge led by Justin Turner (21), Cory Seager (21) and Yasmani Grandal (18) and with a pitching staff patched together with medical tape.

Ace Clayton Kershaw is still on the DL and may be there for the rest of the season. However, Kenta Maeda (11-7), Scott Kazmir (9-5), Julio Urias (2-2), Brandon McCarthy (2-2), Bud Norris (3-2) and Ross Stripling (3-3) have been pitching well enough to get to L.A.’s bullpen, which has been lights out.

Adam Liberatore (1.62 ERA), Joe Blanton (2.64 ERA), Pedro Baez (2.67 ERA) and Kenley Jansen (1.29 ERA, 34 saves) have anchored one of the best pens in baseball.

The Dodgers acquired Rich Hill (9-3, 2.25 ERA) from Oakland and hope his blister issues allow him to make his first start this week.

Last year, the Dodgers had a pair of aces in Kershaw and Greinke and exited the playoffs before you could get a hot dog.

This year, the Dodger pitching is more of a committee effort. Starters that go more than five innings are becoming a rarity.

In 2016, it’s the offense that has carried Los Angeles. As a team, the Dodgers are hitting .273 since the break, best in the National League. Since the All-Star break, the Dodgers have pounded out 32 homeruns, two less than the St. Louis Cardinals, who lead the National League. 

Dodgers get spark from unlikely hero to pull close to the Giants

Baseball is like an alternate universe.

Where else would 27 year-old Rob Segedin have been considering retirement last year when the Yankees demoted him to AA ball?

Instead, Segedin was traded to the Dodgers, was invited to spring training, shined at Oklahoma City and made his debut at Chavez Ravine yesterday, sparking the Dodgers to an 8-5 win over Boston with two bases-loaded hits and four RBI in front of his expectant wife.

Coupled with San Francisco's 1-0 loss to the Nationals, the win pushed the Dodgers to within a game of the Giants in the NL West standings.

Los Angeles has nearly erased San Franciso's lead in the standings and they have done it with a pitching staff held together with masking tape and baling wire. Rookie Ross Stripling won on Saturday and the bullpen bailed out Brandon McCarthy yesterday for the victory.

The Dodgers will put rookie Jose Urias on the hill tonight as the injury-plagued pitching staff tries to tread water in the hope that Clayton Kershaw's ailing back will heal in time for a stretch run.

The Giants have been a sub-.500 team since the All-Star break and the Dodgers have taken series from Washington, St. Louis and Boston to edge back into the conversation for the NL pennant.