{"id":39380,"date":"2017-08-08T05:22:26","date_gmt":"2017-08-08T05:22:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=39380"},"modified":"2017-08-08T05:22:26","modified_gmt":"2017-08-08T05:22:26","slug":"dodgers-dominance-79-32-course-historic-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/sports\/mlb\/dodgers-dominance-79-32-course-historic-season.html","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers dominance: At 79-32, on course for historic season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dodgers dominance: At 79-32, on course for historic season<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

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Over the course of 111 games, this has undeniably become the year of the Los Angeles Dodgers. <\/span><\/p>\n

Cody Bellinger\u2019s rookie season continues to turn heads. Chris Taylor has seemingly come out of nowhere. And even with ace Clayton Kershaw on the disabled list, the Dodgers can\u2019t stop producing dominant pitching performances – or stop winning.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a series of acquisitions before the trade deadline, the club is better-positioned to bring a World Series championship to the city of of Los Angeles than any of the teams that failed before them since the Dodgers last won it all in 1988.<\/span><\/p>\n

At this point, however, even a ring wouldn\u2019t do the Dodgers\u2019 dominance justice. <\/span><\/p>\n

As they continue to flirt with all-time greatness, here\u2019s a look at just how unprecedented their season has been.<\/span><\/p>\n

All they do is win<\/span><\/p>\n

Each victory only seems to invite more historical implications.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 79-32, the Dodgers are 47 games over .500 for the first time since 1962, and their .712 winning percentage is still the best in franchise history, The next highest mark came in 1953, when the Brooklyn Dodgers finished with a .682 winning percentage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Los Angeles reached 75 wins faster than any other team in franchise history, and is on pace to finish with 115 victories. If the Dodgers manage to live up to that projection, they would finish with the 3rd-most single-season wins in the history of the majors \u2014 trailing just the Seattle Mariners and Chicago Cubs, who won 116 games in 2001 and 1906, respectively. <\/span><\/p>\n

And with their 7-4 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday night, the Dodgers became the third team in the modern era to win 43 games in a 50 game stretch \u2014 etching their names alongside the 1906 Cubs and the 1912 New York Giants.<\/span><\/p>\n

If all of that wasn\u2019t remarkable enough, then this might do it: the only team to beat the Dodgers since July 4 are the Atlanta Braves. The last team to lose to only one team over the course of an entire month was, once again, the 1912 Giants.<\/span><\/p>\n

Power ball<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 sweep of the Mets exemplified their unprecedented power surge.<\/span><\/p>\n

With 10 homers in New York, the Dodgers set a record for the most home runs in a three-game series at Citi Field. <\/span><\/p>\n

Entering Sunday night\u2019s series finale against the Mets, the Dodgers had hit 96 homers over the course of 50 games \u2014 the second-most by a National League team through a 50-game stretch.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dodgers have four players with a slugging percentage better than .500 \u2014 Chris Taylor, Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager and Justin Turner. The franchise record for the same category came in 1953, when Brooklyn trotted out a batting order featuring Roy Campanella, Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bellinger’s brilliance<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dodgers first baseman continues to play his way into the conversation for the best rookie performances in the history of the majors. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bellinger needed just 87 games to hit 30 home runs, becoming the third-fastest player to reach the milestone. Mark McGwire accomplished the same feat in 84 games, while Rudy York did so in 79 contests. Now with 32 home runs, Bellinger has the the fifth-most homers in franchise history through 111 team games and is sixth among all-time NL rookies. <\/span><\/p>\n

Arguably more impressive, Bellinger\u2019s homers continue to come in crucial moments. Sixteen of his home runs have come in the seventh inning or later, already tying Frank Robinson\u2019s modern-era rookie record. <\/span><\/p>\n

And with Bellinger projected to mash 47 homers by the end of the season, he could find himself second behind only McGwire for the most among rookies.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yu, too<\/span><\/p>\n

Yu Darvish\u2019s trade to Los Angeles grabbed all of the headlines on deadline day, and in his first start with the new club, he lived up to the hype. The right-hander shut out the Mets through seven innings, recording 10 strikeouts while walking only one batter. <\/span><\/p>\n

With the performance, Darvish became the first Dodgers pitcher to finish his debut with 10-plus strikeouts and one or fewer walks since 1900.<\/span><\/p>\n

Operation shutdown<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 pitching staff boasts 9.49 strikeouts per nine innings. Granted, strikeout totals continue to rise with each season. But if that mark holds, it would still be the highest in the history of the majors. <\/span><\/p>\n

The affinity for the strikeout has clearly contributed to the Dodgers 3.07 team ERA \u2014 the lowest in the majors. That, combined with the offensive production, has led Los Angeles to a league-high +204 run differential.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source-\u00a0https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/mlb\/2017\/08\/07\/dodgers-greatest-season-franchise-history\/546855001\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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