The Los Angeles Dodgers have had quite the ride over the past couple months as they have driven themselves out of the basement of the National League West and into the top spot and after going 42-8 over a 50 game stretch, the team is coming back to earth, but not that much, as they are coming off a 6-4 win against the Miami Marlins that was powered by guess who, Yasiel Puig.
Over the summer Puig has been the spark for the Dodgers and even with Don Mattingly benching him for being late and some other mistakes in the field, Puig has shown that he can overcome those issues to be the hero, which is exactly what he did with his home run. Puig is likely going to win rookie of the year and he has been very clutch for the Dodgers, giving them exactly what they needed when he was called up earlier in the season. The team is now 73-52 on the season and on Wednesday night they will have star Zack Greinke going to the mound.
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Puig was the star on Tuesday despite not starting, as he broke the tie game against the Marlins with his home run and now he has a second hit when coming into a game tied at 4-4. Puig was in a power drought over the past few weeks, but that is obviously over now and he should be back in the starting lineup again on Wednesday. Mattingly said that it was nothing personal but he felt that he had to take action on the young star after showing up late.
Greinke is having himself a fantastic season since signing with the Dodgers and he is now 11-3 on the year and will be going for his fifth straight solid game on the road, as he has a 1.01 ERA in his last four. The Dodgers had some trouble hitting with runners on base on Wednesday and Greinke comes in having not allowed a run in nearly 14 innings, including in a 4-0 win over the Phillies that saw him turn to 5-1 with a 1.45 ERA in his past eight starts on the mound, which is the best ERA in the league over that stretch.
The Dodgers have a 7.5 game lead over the Diamondbacks in the NL West and they likely will win the division barring some unforeseen collapse or injury. Greinke has been one of the primary reasons along with Puig for the success of the Dodgers and he will go up against Nathan Eovaldi, a player that Hanley Ramirez was traded for last summer. Ramirez has been stellar for the Dodgers as well and he is hitting the ball very well down the stretch after being injured earlier in the year.
The Dodgers have been one of the most consistent teams in the league and ranks 15th in runs with 509, while they are fourth in batting average and fifth in on base percentage and ranked 16th in the league in slugging. The team is looking to continue its strong play through August as the playoffs get closer.
