The Morphine Drip is Next

Today is a much-deserved day of rest for the Dodgers after that sensational weekend in Denver. I'll try and remind myself that anything can happen at Coors Canaveral, but to see the Dodgers pull out not one, but two games in which they trailed by five strikes me as something else entirely. The fact that every win they've had this month has been come-from-behind-or-tied leads makes me to shake my head and wonder, how much more of this can we be expected to take?

The only people madder than Rockies fans at the Colorado bullpen are Giants fans. San Francisco still trails the Dodgers by three games in the loss column, and it's becoming increasingly clear, even for those who haven't realized it by now, that this division race is going to come down to the six games between the two teams this weekend and next. However, the Giants are facing a strong Houston team before that, while the Dodgers wrestle with the Padres. I have a feeling that if the Dodgers can win just two of the three games in each of the next two series, they'll have effectively put the division title in the bag.

Dodger Thoughts is continuing its quest to soothe the anxieties and worries of nerve-wracked Dodger fans who are not used to being in the unusual position of first-place this late in the season. I've been self-medicating there almost every morning. Jon may be looking at the bright side, but his glasses aren't totally rose-colored:

We all want to know that everything’s going to be okay, so we look for predictive signs everywhere. And the Dodgers falling behind, game after game, that’s not a good sign. Starting pitchers that can’t make it into the sixth inning, that’s not a good sign. Runners left on base, that’s not a good sign. The Giants winning games, that’s not a good sign.

That's all been discussed ad nauseum, here and elsewhere. It would be nice if these problems could get corrected in the next week or so, wouldn't it?

People have called me an optimist this month, which has surprised me. I don’t consider myself an optimist. Like everyone else, I see the negative signs. But for some reason, with this first-place team, very few people seem to see the positive ones too.

With their bench and bullpen, the Dodgers are a strong late-inning team. They are winning games late for a reason.

Yes they are. That's probably been the strongest dimension to this team, their ability to constantly come-from-behind. However, that ability will be neutralized somewhat in the playoffs when they start facing other teams with strong benches and bullpens. But for now, we can rely on it to give us hope in any game, no matter how much the Dodgers fall behind. And the Giants have a bullpen that can definitely be scored on.

The Dodgers have played .615 ball in their past 13 games, with “red-hot” San Francisco making up one game - one - on Los Angeles in that stretch.

Yeah, but the Dodgers have only played .375 ball in their last eight games, and the Giants have made up 3.5 games in that stretch. With a streaky team like the Dodgers, you can pick any date to show how relatively hot or cold a team is. L.A. is only two games over .500 since August 5, but is 14 games over .500 since the All-Star break, for example.

The fact is, between the two teams contending for the NL West title this year, one is playing very well right now, and the other is plodding along inconsistently.

An off day comes to day to rest the weary pitching staff, just in time to go to San Diego. (The Padres, by the way, began their last series with the Dodgers with their left side of the infield, Sean Burroughs and Khalil Greene, intact. Both are now out for the season.)

As irritated as Giants fans are with the Rockies, that's how I feel about the Padres. After taking three out of four from the Dodgers, they looked like they were ready to go on a tear. Instead they went up to S.F. and blew two of the three games there.

We need to win this next series with the Pads.

Brad Penny looks ready to go.

The savior Dodger fans have been waiting for. The problem is, how effective will he be coming off the injury and five weeks of inactivity? And even if he is effective, can he alone be the answer to all the Dodger rotation's ailments?

The offense is capable of huge hits. Not every time, but hey, sometimes.

That's for sure. Green's homerun yesterday was just the latest season-saving hit in a year that's been full of them. Win or lose, this has been one of the most exciting Dodger seasons I can remember, and I've got no regrets so far. We'll see if I'm still singing the same tune by the end of the month.

I'm going to be an absolute wreck for the next two weeks. I hope Jon considers upping the meds. We're going to need it.