Baseball chasing Dodgers, Astros on eve of second half
The Washington Nationals have Bryce Harper anchoring one of baseball’s best lineups, and a glaring hole at the back of their bullpen. The Boston Red Sox are enjoying life with Chris Sale, and missing David Ortiz at times. The Chicago Cubs are searching for answers for their pesky championship hangover. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros are looking down at the rest of the majors right now, and it’s quite a gap at the moment.
With the All-Star Game in the rearview mirror and the trade deadline inching closer, the World Series favourites are as clear as the beautiful blue waters of Miami that hosted baseball’s best players for the past couple days. The Dodgers and Astros are each on pace to win 100-plus games, something that hasn’t happened for two teams in a single season since the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees in 2004.
“I don’t think there’s one key, but I think that’s probably why we’re doing so well - is that there’s not one specific thing you can hone in on as to why we’re playing so well,” Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw said. Los Angeles leads the majors with a 61-29 record, one game better than Houston and 7 1/2 ahead of second-place Arizona in the loaded NL West. The Dodgers’ plus-163 run differential is the best in National League history at the All-Star break, according to STATS LLC. Kershaw has been, well, Kershaw, and Kenley Jansen remains one of the majors’ best closers. But rookie Cody Bellinger has provided an unexpected lift with 25 homers, and left-hander Alex Wood is 10-0 with a 1.67 ERA. “Every night it’s somebody different, and that’s a sign of a good team,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “It seems like I say depth every single night, but that’s probably been the biggest reason for our success.”
The Astros are feeling pretty good, too. Led by All-Stars Carlos Correa, Jose Altuve and George Springer, they top the majors in runs, hits, home runs, RBIs and batting average. Perhaps most importantly, they also have a whopping 16 1/2game lead in the AL West, allowing them to go slowly with Dallas Keuchel after the 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner was shelved by a neck injury.
“You don’t think you’re going to play that well but you don’t think you’re going to play badly either,” Springer said. “I’ll take it.”
A year ago, the Cubs were in the same position as the Dodgers and Astros, on top of the game heading into the second half of the season. They went on to their first World Series championship since 1908, but their title defence has been one bumpy ride so far. Hampered by injuries and inconsistency, the Cubs are under .500 and trail surprising Milwaukee by 5 1/2 games in the NL Central.