Dodgers reach halfway point with best record
Even amid the upheaval of a pandemic, one thing is predictable: the Los Angeles Dodgers are very good.
In fact, they’re the best team in baseball, boasting a 22-8 record at the halfway point of the shortened season.
They went 13-4 playing a stretch of 17 consecutive days that ended Sunday, capped by an 11-3 win over Colorado in which the Dodgers blasted seven home runs.
Instead of being on fumes, manager Dave Roberts said, “We all feel really good.”
It shows in their balanced offense and pitching. The Dodgers lead the majors in home runs (59) and runs scored (171). They also have the lowest team ERA (2.65), while their WHIP (1.04) is just behind Cleveland’s leading 1.03. The L.A. staff is doing it without David Price, who opted out of the season because of the coronavirus.
They’ve stayed healthy, too, avoiding the COVID-19 cases that have wreaked havoc with others teams’ schedules.
The Dodgers begin the second half tonight against the Giants in San Francisco.
“The last 30 games is more of trying to identify the roles, the roster, winning baseball games,” Roberts said, “but we have more off days coming up in September, so that’s a good thing as far as managing workload.”
The Dodgers won a franchise-record 106 games last
season to go with their seventh consecutive NL West title. They made a loaded roster even more so with the addition of Mookie Betts, who became the first Dodger to hit two homers and steal two bases in the same game Sunday. He blasted three homers in a game on Aug. 13.
METS BACK IN ACTION >> The New York Mets will resume play today after no additional members tested positive for COVID-19 since the team learned of two infections that caused four games to be postponed last week, Major League Baseball said. A doubleheader against the Miami Marlins was scheduled for today.
The Mets’ series finale last Thursday in Miami and their three weekend Subway Series games against the crosstown
Yankees were postponed after the positive tests were announced.
INDIANS MANAGER FRANCONA TO MISS 3-GAME SERIES AGAINST TWINS >> Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona will miss the club’s three-game series against Minnesota this week while he continues to deal with health issues.
Francona underwent another procedure Friday at the Cleveland Clinic to address a gastrointestinal condition that has bothered him for nearly a year.
The 61-year-old Francona already has missed 17 games and the club will be without him as they take on the AL Central-leading Twins, who lead the Indians by 1 1/2 games going into today’s series opener.
Francona recently said he’ll try to manage games whenever he can, but last week president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said the team has been encouraging him to take as long as needed before coming back.
ASTROS-ANGELS MOVED UP DUE TO TROPICAL STORM >> The Los Angeles AngelsHouston Astros game scheduled for Thursday in Houston has been moved to today due to the potential impact of an approaching tropical storm, MLB announced.
The Angels and Astros now will play a doubleheader today.
The teams’ Wednesday game has been moved up eight hours, allowing the Angels an earlier departure from the city.
Tropical Storm Laura, projected to become a hurricane, is forecast to make landfall along the Gulf Coast early Thursday morning.
PAIR OF YANKEES LAND ON 10DAY IL >> The New York Yankees placed left-handed starting pitcher James Paxton and infielder Gleyber Torres on the 10-day injured list, the team announced.
Both moves are retroactive to Aug. 21.
Paxton was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain of the forearm flexor in his throwing arm after undergoing an MRI exam at New York-Presbyterian Hospital on Friday. Torres underwent an MRI that revealed Grade 1 strains of the left quad and left hamstring.