Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw were just too much for the Anaheim Angels over the weekend, as both won their respective games and only Greinke allowed two runs over 8 innings and Kershaw improved his scoreless innings to 37 as he shut down the Angels with his nasty breaking ball.
The Dodgers improved to 59 wins on Friday and Saturday which were very needed as the second place San Francisco Giants also won and only trail the Dodgers by a game and a half. The Angels fell to 55-48 and trail the first place Astros by 3 games. Greinke has a 1.41 ERA and has struck out 128 batters in 146 1/3 innings, while Clayton Kershaw has a 2.37 ERA and 192 strikeouts in 148 innings pitched. This one-two dodger punch has become one of the leagues best as it becomes nearly impossible to do any damage to either pitcher when their A game is on.
MVP candidate and Angels slugger Mike Trout had a hard time in Dodger stadium this weekeed as he only had two hits on Friday night against Greinke on a pitch that Greinke admitted he made a mistake leaving over the plate, however on Saturday Trout went 0-4 against Kershaw.
Kershaw now sets his mark at 37 scoreless innings and will have the opportunity to pass his teammate Zack Greinke of 45 scoreless innings next week against the Pirates in Pittsburgh. The Dodgers need all the good pitching from their starters they can get as the bullpen has had its ups and downs in July and some batting slumps from their top hitters. The Angels will try to avoid the sweep on Sunday afternoon as they send Cory Rasmus to the mound against the Mat Latos who willget his first start as a Dodger.
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