Dodgers make a statement against Cubs

The Dodgers swept the Cubs in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium this weekend, sending a message to the defending World Series champs -- next year is here.

With Clayton Kershaw and John Lester facing off today, everyone expected a tight pitcher's duel. The Dodgers had shut out Chicago in the first two games of the series with Alex Wood and Brandon McCarthy tossing gems and the bullpen posting zeroes.

But today, neither Lester or Kershaw got through five innings, Lester surrendering two three-run homers (Hernandez, Bellinger) and Kershaw getting tapped for dingers by Wilson Contreras, Javier Baez and Anthony Rizzo.

The Dodgers also got long balls from Yasiel Puig and Austin Barnes enroute to a 9-4 rout.

With the win, the Dodgers pulled to within 1.5 games of the Colorado Rockies in the National League West. Los Angeles has one of the best records in the majors,
a solid pitching rotation and a strong bullpen.

Today, the Dodgers got 4.2 innings of no-hit pitching from the pen with Josh Fields, Sergio Romo, Adam Liberatore and Kenley Jansen picking up Kershaw after a rare shaky start.

In Saturday's 5-0 win, Ross Stripling came out of the pen and gave up just one hit over three innings. On Friday, Pedro Baez and Chris Hatcher each pitched two innings in relief of Wood and did not give up a hit.

When your pen is that good, your offense doesn't have to be killing it.

The Dodgers figure to see the Cubs again in the post-season. Sweeping three in May doesn't mean too much -- but it means something.

Dodgers have new competition

For the past decade, the National League West championship flag has usually flown either in Los Angeles or San Francisco, with the Dodgers winning the division six times and the Giants twice. Of course the Giants went on to win the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014, the third title captured as a Wild Card.

This year, the Giants are floundering near the bottom of the pack while the Dodgers trail the Rockies by 3.5 games with May winding down.

At the beginning of the season, it appeared the Dodgers were heavy in pitching and would have serious competition for a number of roster spots. Now, with injuries taking an early toll, L.A. skipper Dave Roberts is shuffling his rotation around to try and maintain pace with the Rocks and D-Backs.

Rookie sensation Julio Urias was sent back to AAA after several sub-par outings, Rich Hill had control problems in a loss to the Cards last night and Hyun Jin-Ryu has struggled. On the plus side, Clayton Kershaw is 7-2 and looking invincible and Alex Wood is 5-0 and his 1.88 ERA is even better than Kershaw's.

Offensively, the Dodgers have Justin Turner on the DL, Andrew Toles out for the season with a knee, Yasiel Puig and Joc Pederson recovering from a collision in the outfield and Logan Forsythe just off the DL.

I think this team has all of the elements to win another division title and be relevant in the playoffs -- if they can get healthy. Adrian Gonzalez is finding his stroke after coming off the DL, Corey Seager is legit and young Cody Bellinger could be another in a long line of Rookies of the Year wearing Dodger Blue.

I like the contributions from Chris Taylor and Brett Eibner and the bullpen, long a weakness, appears to be relatively stable with Kenley Jansen solid as the closer.

I still predict we will catch Colorado and Arizona by the All-Star break.

Dodgers visit Colorado in early showdown

The high flying Dodgers, winners of five in a row and nine out of the last 11 games, start a four-game set with the Rockies tonight, trying to eclipse a 1.5-game deficit in the NL West standings.

The Rockies have been led by a hot-hitting Mark Reynolds, who leads the team with a .336 batting average, 12 homers and 30 RBI. Charlie Blackmon (.301), Nolan Arenado (.295) and Ian Desmond (.293) have also sparked the offense in Denver, Desmond is just coming off the DL.

On the mound, the Rocks have been paced by rookie Antonio Senzatela, who has posted a 5-1 record and 2.86 ERA in his major league debut season. Colorado took two of three from the Cubs at Wrigley and figure to give the Dodgers a run for their money in the division.

Los Angeles is getting strong mound work from the likes of Clayton Kershaw (5-2, 2.40 ERA), Alex Wood (3-0, 2.73 ERA), Brandon McCarthy (3-0, 3.10 ERA), Kenta Maeda (3-2, 5.03) and Julio Urias (0-0, 1.06 ERA). Rich Hill is set to come off the DL and Hyun Jin-Ryu (1-4, 4.05 ERA) looks to be finding his groove.

Ryu went 5.1 innings against the Phillies on April 30, giving up just three hits and striking out nine. Maeda, who was in danger of losing his spot in the rotation, stayed in the mix last night with a five-hit performance over 8.1 innings.

Urias took a no-hitter into the sixth inning on Tuesday and figures to be one of the mainstays in the rotation.

Dodger pitchers lead the major leagues with a 3.20 ERA and 331 strikeouts.

With the bats, L.A. is getting offense from Justin Turner (.365), Cody Bellinger (.315), Corey Seager (.285) and Yasiel Puig (.252).  Bellinger and Puig lead the team with six homers apiece and Puig leads in RBI with 19.

Adrian Gonzalez and Logan Forsythe were joined on the DL by Andrew Toles, who is out for the season with an ACL.

Will Gonzalez become the modern-day Wally Pipp?

Only die-hard baseball fans and sports historians know the story of Wally Pipp and Lou Gehrig, one of the icons of the New York Yankees.

Pipp was the first baseman for the Yanks in 1925 who,
according to sports legend, had a headache from a beaning and was replaced in the lineup by Gehrig. Truth is, Pipp was not hitting and the Yankees knew what they had in Gehrig.

Gehrig went on to play more than 2,000 consecutive games for the Yankees, a record that lasted until 1995 when Cal Ripken eclipsed the iron man record in major league baseball.

I once saw Ripken play against the Red Sox in Fenway Park but that's another story.

Last night, Adrian Gonzalez went to the DL for the first time in his 14-year major league career. His replacement, rookie Cody Bellinger, hit two home runs as the Dodgers posted an 8-2 win over the Padres.

Gonzalez, 35, has been a force in the Dodgers' lineup since being acquired from Boston in mega-trade in 2012. Gonzalez has a lifetime batting average of .289 and 308 career home runs. He is coming off an "off" year in 2016 when he hit .285, knocked in 90 RBI and hit 18 dingers.

Hopefully, Gonzalez will come back from elbow and back injuries later this season and send Bellinger back to the outfield because I can't see him going back to Oklahoma City.

If Gonzalez is out for any duration, Bellinger is showing signs of being ready to take over at first base. The top prospect in the LA system has been impressive since making his first big league appearance on April 25. In 38 at-bats, Bellinger is hitting .342 with four home runs and nine RBI.

Bellinger was drafted by the Dodgers in the 2013 draft out of high school in Chandler, Arizona. He is the son of former major leaguer Clay Bellinger. At 6-4 and 210 lbs., Bellinger is long and lanky and runs well. He hits from the left side and has a power stroke.

Only time will tell if and when he will replace Gonzalez at first base. In the meantime, he is making it very difficult for Dave Roberts to keep him out of the lineup.

Dodgers fortunes take an upturn

After struggling through the first month of the season playing less than .500 ball, the Dodgers exited April with a sweep of Philadelphia and a modest four-game winning streak.

The turn of fortunes was punctuated Saturday night when the Dodgers got back-to-back-to-back homers from Yasiel Puig, Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner to tie the game then won it on a cue shot single from Adrian Gonzalez to cap a wild ninth inning.

Bellinger, the top prospect in the farm system, hit two homers in the game and is demonstrating why he is the slugger in waiting in Oklahoma City. Despite his power eruption, Bellinger will probably be sent back to the minors this week when Joc Pederson and Logan Forsyth return from rehab assignments. Look for the lanky outfielder/first baseman to return to the bigs before the season is out.

The Dodgers got strong performances from Kenta Maeda and Hyu Jin-Ryu against the Phils, which means skipper Dave Roberts may have a glut of starting pitchers on his hands with Rich Hill set to come off the DL after a rehab assignment in the minors.

LA's rotation now features Kershaw, Brandon McCarthy, Rich Hill, Ryu, Maeda, Julio Urias and Alex Wood, who was lights out in a spot start last week.

The organization is trying to spoon feed Urias so look for Wood to go back to the bullpen for long relief work and spot starts and Urias to return to Oklahoma City unless he continues to force Roberts to keep him in the rotation.