Everybody in the National League West, including the last-place San Diego Padres, has made a run this season — then fallen apart.
Well, almost. The Los Angeles Dodgers (53-48) did their falling apart early, then won 23 of 29 games through Thursday and are in first place in the West.
The Arizona Diamondbacks (53-49) have been in first place for much of the season but fell to one game over .500 on July 2 after losing eight of nine. They have rallied, though, and trail the Dodgers by a half-game.
The defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants (46-55) spent some time in first place in May before the bottom dropped out, and they lost 14 of 16 games just before the All-Star break. But a no-hitter July 13 by severely slumping Tim Lincecum proves practically anything is possible in this division.
The Colorado Rockies (49-54) spent parts of April and May in first place but then became pretty beatable. Their pitching shut down the Dodgers offense in a recent series, though, giving the Rockies hope.
But nobody really knows who might get hot next. "I think it will be tight all the way," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said.
The Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Rockies and Giants are all within seven games of one another through Thursday. Sports Weekly focuses on key players and issues that could determine the fate of each contender down the stretch.
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LOS ANGELES DODGERS
As big-money players begin to match Puig's pace, they're atop the standings
It's no secret Yasiel Puig has been a saving grace for the Los Angeles Dodgers since he played his first game in the major leagues June3. The Cuban defector was hitting .379 with nine home runs and 22 RBI entering Friday and had made highlight reels for his hitting prowess and his big arm in the outfield.
The Dodgers are 30-16 since his debut, and his presence had given a jolt to a team with lofty expectations.
"You see the energy he plays with," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly says. "It has been contagious not only for our city, but the guys on the field, too. They gain energy from the way he plays baseball. It's fun to watch, honestly."
Puig had also proved valuable to Mattingly as a healthy and productive outfield bat, a rare commodity this season.
Los Angeles has one of the most expensive outfields in baseball, with opening-day starters Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford, and Andre Ethier earning nearly $54 million combined — a quarter of the team's $216million-plus payroll.
All three appeared to be coming alive.
Kemp had been limited to 62games by shoulder issues but returned from the disabled list Sunday with three hits, including a home run, in a 9-2 pounding that finished a three-game sweep of the host Washington Nationals. Kemp tweaked his ankle in the game, and the Dodgers eventually returned him to the DL for a third time this season.
Ethier has underperformed this season, batting .272 with seven home runs.
When healthy, Crawford had produced for the most part; he had a .301 average before a recent dry spell dropped him to .277 with five home runs and 10 steals. But he missed a month with a hamstring strain before returning July5.
Another expensive Dodger who has had the injury bug is shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who makes $15.5million but had been limited to 46 games because of a balky hamstring. His return June4, a day after Puig made his debut, from a second stint on the disabled list has also been a driving force behind the club's recent surge.
Ramirez homered twice in last weekend's series against the Nationals, including one off Stephen Strasburg, and had a .384 average, 1.123 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, 10 homers and 31 RBI.
"Hanley can't be overlooked," says staff ace Clayton Kershaw, whose 2.01 ERA led the major leagues. "He's been, if not better, just as good (as Puig). It's been huge to have both of those guys."
Puig sat out most of the finale of the Nationals series, as Kemp, Ramirez, Crawford and Ethier helped carry the offense.
"The past couple of weeks we hit our stride, got healthy and got some momentum," Mattingly says. "But we haven't accomplished anything other than being back in the race."
By Harry Hawkings, USA TODAY Sports; Hawkings, reported from Washington. Contributing: David Leon Moore in Los Angeles
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ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Wobbly starting rotation could put postseason hopes on shaky ground
It wasn't that long ago when the Arizona Diamondbacks suffered through a stretch of 24 games in which they failed to get a win by a starting pitcher.
Though Patrick Corbin (12-1, 2.31 ERA entering Friday) has done more than anyone could have asked, considering he opened the season as the No.5 starter, the rest of the rotation has been spotty.
To say Ian Kennedy (3-7, 5.22 ERA), Brandon McCarthy (2-4, 5.00) and Trevor Cahill (3-10, 4.66) have struggled — the latter two are also on the disabled list — is an understatement. Lefty Wade Miley, an All-Star a year ago as a rookie, has been average, as his 7-8 record and 3.86 ERA attest.
If general manager Kevin Towers makes a trade to address the bullpen, he will consider bringing in a starter, too, even if Arizona continues to turn to youngsters such as Tyler Skaggs and Randall Delgado.
"I don't think that there's a player out there that's available that is that one (difference-making) guy for a contender right now," Towers said. "The price that you're looking for for those guys is in excess of what I think their value is.
"There are some two-month rentals, but I don't see them making a huge difference. What you have to give up in return I don't think is worth it in dollars, talent and in short-term control."
Kennedy, who hasn't won since June1 and hasn't won a game against a National League West team this season, has been particularly disappointing. He went 21-4 with a 2.88 ERA in 2011 and 15-12, 4.02 last year.
The Diamondbacks' opening-day starting pitcher, Kennedy has struggled to find consistency. Twice this season has he posted quality starts (six or more innings pitched, three or fewer earned runs allowed) in back-to-back outings. He has yet to string together three in a row.
"There have been some good ones," he said. "And some really, really bad ones that have hidden some of the good ones. It's definitely a rough patch in my career, but I've done it before and gotten through it before."
The early days of Kennedy's big-league career weren't easy. He was hit around during his first opportunity to pitch in the major leagues, for the New York Yankees, and was sent to the minors in 2008. In 2009, he needed surgery to remove an aneurysm in his right arm.
Kennedy, who was traded to Arizona in 2009, says his current stretch has been just as difficult. Also in the season's first half, he was suspended for 10 games for his part in a brawl against the Los Angeles Dodgers and lost his place as the team's top starter, thanks to the emergence of Corbin.
"It's all been a good learning curve," Kennedy said. "I learned things in 2008 and even from the aneurysm stuff in 2009. You just get better from it."
Manager Kirk Gibson said he would like to see Kennedy mix up his pitches and their location.
"I don't know this, but after that thing (brawl) happened in the Dodgers series, it seemed like he started … becoming more predictable," Gibson said. "He's got to throw the ball freely.
"I went out there and said, 'All the hits are down and out over the plate. You've got to mix it up.' ... He's more effective when he does that. You've got to be aggressive right out of the gate."
In his first start after the All-Star break, Kennedy, beardless for the first time in more than two years in an attempt to reverse his luck, struggled in the first inning against the San Francisco Giants but settled down and gave up two runs in six innings.
In the first innings of games this season, he has an 7.65 ERA.
"He came out trying to establish his fastball, and they came out very aggressive," Gibson said. "He got his arm up and was hitting his spots and just started throwing all of his pitches."
By Bob McManaman and Nick Piecoro, The (Phoenix) Arizona Republic. Contributing: John Klima, wire reports
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SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Defending champions' problems go well beyond disappointing rotation
The San Francisco Giants have publicly committed to keeping Tim Lincecum for the rest of the season.
Now they desperately hope he can come close to reliving his past glory.
The stud who threw a 148-pitch no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on July 13 has rarely been seen around the shores of McCovey Cove — or anywhere else — for 11/2 seasons, a prime reason the defending champion Giants have gone from ranking second in the National League in ERA (3.20) in 2011 to 14th this season (4.19).
While the rest of the staff made up for Lincecum's struggles in 2012 — and he contributed to the World Series title run out of the bullpen — the rotation's collapse this season was much more widespread.
In fact, Lincecum's middling 4.73 ERA ranks second to All-Star Madison Bumgarner's 2.93 among the regular starters, with staff ace Matt Cain checking in at an unfathomable 5.00.
Those numbers don't include the starting performance of converted reliever Chad Gaudin, who has gone 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA as a starter and could factor into a possible second-half turnaround for San Francisco.
Whether he remains in the rotation or goes back to the bullpen once Ryan Vogelsong returns from his broken pinkie, an effective Gaudin represents a welcome bonus for the shaky Giants.
Simply improving the pitching likely won't send the Giants back to the postseason for the third time in four years, even in a weak NL West that has seen the Los Angeles Dodgers start to assert themselves. San Francisco's season has been built on more deficiencies than defending champions typically have.
Sloppy fielding — the Giants had committed 72 errors, second most in the NL — the lack of timely hitting and a dreadful performance on the road (18-31) were among the culprits.
A sense of complacency might have set in as well. San Francisco was 23-15 and in first place in the division May 12 but had gone 23-40 since then. Part of the problem was an offense that scored three runs or fewer 17 times in a 26-game stretch, and only some of that could be blamed on the injury absence of leadoff hitter Angel Pagan, who might not be back until September.
"We know where we're at and what has to happen in the second half," manager Bruce Bochy said before his club opened a 10-game homestand that began with two wins in three games against the Arizona Diamondbacks, "and that's us getting more consistent in all facets of the game."
By Jorge L. Ortiz, USA TODAY Sports
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COLORADO ROCKIES
For team to win West, Gonzalez & Co. must continue to produce home runs
If the Colorado Rockies are going to win the first division title in their 21-year history, power figures to pave the way. Even with the recent emergence of young starters Tyler Chatwood and Jhoulys Chacin, the Rockies rank where they usually rank in pitching, near the bottom of the National League.
But, also as usual, Colorado can slug with any team. Led by the NL's leading home run hitter, Carlos Gonzalez, the Rockies trail only the Atlanta Braves in homers in the league. No team except the Braves depends more on the long ball, either.
Coming into the week, the Rockies were a lofty 13 games over .500 when they homered, plenty good enough to contend in a division in which the leader was four games over. But when the Rockies hadn't homered, they had won nine games.
Unlike many seasons, Colorado's numbers haven't been pumped up too much by the mile-high air at Coors Field. The Rockies hit 100homers at home last season, including 66on the road. This season, they've hit almost as many at home (60) as away (52).
The more balanced production can be traced largely to one player, Gonzalez, their All-Star left fielder. For his career, he has hit .328 at Coors but .267 away. This season, for the first time, he has hit better on the road.
At home: .273 with 12 homers and a .930 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS).
On the road: .324 with 14 homers and a 1.000 OPS.
"Now, I love the challenge when I go on the road to play at the same level," Gonzalez toldTheDenver Post recently. "Part of the reason is all the talk and people writing about how I only hit at Coors Field."
"Whether he's in Colorado or San Diego, he's a great hitter," San Diego Padres manager Bud Black says. "I don't see any change in his approach away from Coors Field."
Gonzalez isn't the only Rockies player breaking from his career norms. Right fielder Michael Cuddyer, who has never hit .300, currently at .331 with 16 homers, matching his 2012 total. With 11homers, leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler was within two of last year's career best even though finger and hand injuries had limited him to one homer since June 3.
Injuries through the lineup have taken a toll on the Rockies. Cuddyer, Fowler and All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzi all have spent time on the disabled list, and Gonzalez is playing with a right middle finger injury that kept him out of the Home Run Derby at the All-Star Game. Tulowitzki continues to deal with soreness after spending nearly a month on the disabled list with a broken rib. He had 16 homers by June 5 but hit only one over the next six weeks.
"There's still soreness in the area but I'm good enough to go out there and play," he told news reporters.
The Rockies surely hope so. Their chances to win the West hinge largely on the power supply.
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