Dodgers reach halfway point with baseball's best record

LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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 LA 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 Tuesday 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' depth has allowed Roberts to rest his players and pitchers, even with starter Alex Wood and reliever Joe Kelly on the injured list. Tony Gonsolin, good enough to be in a rotation elsewhere, moved back and forth from the alternate training site to be a sixth starter during the run of 17 straight games. Roberts has kept pitch counts under 100, too.

The National League has the designated hitter thanks to the pandemic, and the Dodgers have made the most of it. Nine different players have been used in the extra spot, whether to give someone rest or get those...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Dodgers-reach-halfway-point-with-baseball-s-best-15511446.php