After another extra-innings loss on Thursday night to the Giants 3-1, the Dodgers dropped to 3-6 in such games. It's actually pretty amazing that of the 36 games played so far, nine have gone into "overtime."
So the simple question is, Why?
Here's why: the bullpen ERA is 3.92 overall, but shoots up to 5.40 after the ninth inning. The breakdown goes something like this:
Brandon League - 4 1/3 IP, 2.08 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, .333 AVG
Jamey Wright - 6 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, .286 AVG
Chris Perez - 2 IP, 9.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .333 AVG
J.P. Howell - 2 2/3 IP, 10.12 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, .231 AVG
Kenley Jansen - 1 2/3 IP, 10.80 ERA, 3.60 WHIP, .500 AVG
Simply put, those numbers range from a little taste of good to a whole lot of bad.
Even more surprising is the order in which this list appears. I would think if you had these five guys as your choices before the season started, you would've had it flipped completely, as there's no way anyone would think League would have a better ERA than Jansen when the pressure is on. But, that's certainly been the reality.
Look, the Dodgers just have to play better on both sides of the field if they want to breakout and stop treading water. Better pitching in extra innings is just one part of it. It's not like the offense lights it up either, as their .266 AVG is about in the middle of the pack. That's not that great, but it's better than the poor pitching at least.
Then again, the Dodgers just need to go on a 42-8 run again. That would solve plenty of problems.
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