The biggest event to happen this week wasn't big at all... the trade deadline. But on July 31st, the Padres and Diamondbacks completed the only trade between two NL West teams. Arizona traded Ian Kennedy to San Diego for reliever Joe Thatcher, prospect releiver Matt Stites, and a compensatory-round draft pick. Nobody else in the division made any other notable deals on the deadline.
Anyway, let's take a look at what happened on the diamond this week.
TEAM RECAPS:
Diamondbacks: Arizona was 3-3 this week. The Diamondbacks started off the week with back-to-back wins against the Cubs and Padres before losing their next three straight. The Dbacks ended the week on a positive note when they defeated the Rays 7-0 on the road.
Arizona's offense was all over the place this week. The Diamondbacks averaged 4.2 runs per game, but that still doesn't explain how inconsistent they were. Here is the order of runs scored by the Dbacks this week: 3, 10, 3, 0, 2, 7. On the flip side, the pitching staff was hit or miss as well. Here is the order of runs the pitching staff allowed: 1, 0, 12, 1, 5, 0. In short, the pitching was incredible in four of the six games, but because of the inconsistent offense, Arizona was 3-3.
Rockies: Colorado was 2-5 this week. The Rockies started off the week with a 5-3 loss to the Marlins. In its weekend series against Milwaukee, Colorado took two of three. But then the Rockies traveled to Atlanta and were swept by the NL-East leading Braves.
Colorado averaged an impressive 4.7 runs per game this week. But that wasn't enough to finish better than 2-5 this week because the pitching staff surrendered on average 7 runs per game. Opponents scored five runs or more in six of the Rockies' games this past week. When Colorado played Atlanta, the Braves scored nine runs in the first and third games and eleven in the second.
Giants: San Francisco was 1-4 this week. The Giants started off the week with an off day before getting swept by the Cubs at home. San Francisco then traveled to Philadelphia and split two games with the Phillies.
Unlike the Rockies and Diamondbacks, the Giants offense was average while the pitching staff was good this week. San Francisco's offense averaged three runs a game this past week thanks to a 9-2 over Philadelphia. Oddly enough, the pitching staff surrendered the same amount of runs per game. But the series against the Cubs is what stands out. The Giants scored three runs in the entire series while the pitching staff gave up only six runs.
Padres: San Diego was 5-2 this week. The Padres started off with a 10-8 win over the Brewers before losing to the Diamondbacks 10-0. But San Diego bounced back and won four straight before losing its final game of the week to Cincinnati by a score of 4-1.
The Padres offense was extremely inconsistent at the beginning of the week before figuring it out at the end. Here is the order of runs scored by San Diego this week: 10, 0, 12, 1, 2, 4, 1. San Diego's pitching staff was okay, surrendering on average four runs per game. But the Padres hope they fixed that issue by acquiring Ian Kennedy from the Diamondbacks.
Dodgers: Los Angeles was 4-2 this week. The Dodgers started off the week with a loss to the Reds before winning four straight (three against the Reds and one against the Yankees). The Boys in Blue then ended the week with a tough 3-0 loss to the Bronx Bombers.
Los Angeles truly showed its "grit" this week. The Dodgers won three games by one run and its fourth win by three. But that was only because its offense wasn't as hot as it has been. Last week, LA averaged 7.8 runs per game. This week, it averaged just 2.
WHAT'S IN STORE FOR THESE TEAMS NEXT WEEK:
Diamondbacks: One game against the Rangers, three against the Red Sox, two against the Rays
Rockies: One game against the Braves, three against the Pirates, two against the Mets
Giants: One game against the Phillies, three against the Rays, three against the Brewers
Padres: Three games against the Yankees, two against the Orioles
Dodgers: Four games against the Cubs, three games against the Cardinals
OVERALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Dodgers' pitcher Clayton Kershaw. The lefty was 1-0 this week with a 0.56 ERA in two starts. Kershaw finished the week with 16 total innings in which he allowed just one earned run on 11 hits. The Dodgers' ace also struck out eight and walked none. Kershaw's 2013 season ERA is now at 1.87.
BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE:
Dodgers' outfielder Yasiel Puig. On July 28th, the Dodgers and Reds were tied at 0-0 in the bottom of the eleventh with two outs. Puig stepped up to the plate, and then this happened. Before his walk-off homer, Puig was 0-3 with three strikeouts and a walk. In the end, the homer, bat flip, and slide into home earned him this award.
OVERALL TEAM OF THE WEEK:
The Los Angeles Dodgers. Despite finishing with the second best record over the last seven days, 4-2 compared to the Padres' 5-2, LA deserves to be named the team of the week. San Diego went 5-2 against the Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Braves, whereas Los Angeles went 4-2 against a tougher combination of teams (record wise so far this season) in the Reds and the Yankees. At the same time, LA's wins were much closer and tougher to achieve as they included two walk-offs.
WORST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK:
Rockies' pitcher Tyler Chatwood. The 23-year-old righty lasted just two and a third innings against the Braves on July 31st. Chatwood gave up eight run (seven earned) on 10 hits while striking out just one. The Rockies went on to lose that game by a score of 9-0.