That was about as thorough a beatdown as LA could have mustered. Until tomorrow.

We'll know tomorrow if Webb is hurt or not. If he is, season over for Arizona.

Haren hasn't been particularly good the last few starts.

Haren over his last 7 starts (starting August 4 and including tonight, thanks to TAP):

42.3 total IP
6.04 IP per start
6.17 ERA
1.679 WHIP
4.4 K/BB ratio
1.49 HR per 9 IP

Dan Haren splits, (before tonight's ass whooping)

Career, pre-ASB = 3.35 ERA
Career, postASB = 4.14 ERA

2008, pre-ASB = 2.72 ERA
2008, postABS = 4.33 ERA

2007, pre-ASB = 2.30 ERA
2007, postASB = 4.15 ERA

2006, pre-ASB = 3.52 ERA
2006, postASB = 4.91 ERA

Basically, Haren is the Eric Byrnes of pitchers.
Pretty good (very good at times) in the first half, backup material in the second half

It's great to know that the Dbacks have Dan and Eric as the two most expensive players on the team over the next 2 years. They'll make the fans proud.

[Edit] OK, so 4.14 ERA in the second half isn't awful. But it ain't ace material either. You definitely want more from the guy you gave up 6 quality young players for (including, incidentally, Carlos Quentin, the woulda -been, coulda -been AL MVP). Haren has simply been atrocious over the last two months. Just awful.

Lowe was visibly p.o.ed when he was yanked after 8, but I think (for a change) that Torre made the right pitching move. Lowe was visibly tiring, and it's better to save him for future games.

That being said, with a 7 run lead, I wouldn't have used Park, but rather a back of the bullpen guy - maybe one of the recent callups.

Incidentally, I love that Park has rebounded from being a frequently injured, sucky starter to being a quality reliever/spot starter. Not the star that the Rangers thought he'd be, but a valuable member of the pitching staff.

WRT Webb, I wonder if the line drive to the chest is affecting him mentally. His location last start was awful, almost like he's subconsiously messed up his follow-through. As a Dodger fan, I hope he takes a couple of starts to get back in rhythm. As a Webb fan, I just hope he's ok. Either way, the Dbacks will have their hands full with Billingsley.

The death throes of the D backs season are destined to play out for a little while longer. They will probably split the next two games, come out of LA with a 1/2 game lead, and it will take till the last week of the season for LA to actually clinch the division.

Since May 1st, D Backs are 51-61 and have been outscored 510-473. Dodgers are only 57-57. scoring 454 and allowing 465 during that same time. They've been better, but not by a lot. However, since getting Manny, the Dodgers runs scored did not match their BA/OBP/SLG due to too many DP's and a low BA W/RISP. Until their recent win streak:

From 8/1-8/29 LA as a team hit .275/.336/.433 .769 OPS yet averaged just 3.74 R/G, thanks to 28 DP's in 27 games and a BA/WRISP in the 2-teens.

From Aug 30- to Last night they have scored 40 Runs in 6 games, and never less than 5, while hitting .320/.403/.571 .974OPS Their offense is exploding, and becoming a playoff caliber offense.

Overall...since August 1 or "AM" (after Manny) they've hit .283/.348/.457 .805 OPS

The D backs used to be able to match them in the pitching department, but with Haren and Webb falling apart down the stretch, that is no longer the case. On top of all this, according to Dial's OPD charts, the Dodgers have the 4th best overall defense in the league while the D Backs rank dead last. There have been personnel changes, and the numbers may not be exactly reflective of where they are now, but it's clear the Dodgers play significantly better defense than Arizona.

And Finally, the Dodgers have the easiest schedule imaginable. The combined win% of their opponents in their remaining games is under .430

In my opinion, it will take a massive choke job on the part of the Dodgers not to win this division. They are so clearly the better team, it's not funny.

Randy Johnson being skipped due to shoulder fatigue. Scherzer to get the start tomorrow. Coffin...meet nail.

Maddux is being skipped as well. Kershaw will be starting in his place.

Scherzer gives them a better chance to win than Johnson.

RJ has a 2.48 ERA in his last 9 starts, Vaux. He has been awesome.

I didn't realize he'd been that good.

I'm not sure Vaux lives in reality. He's got his irrational world full of teams/players he irrationally hates
And that's perfectly fine

Johnson got smacked around in his last start, allowing four homers in less than four innings.

If you go back nine starts, he allowed no runs in each of the first three starts in that stretch. In the most recent six starts, he was more ordinary than awesome.

He got smacked around in his last start due to the shoulder fatigue. (inflamation actually) A healthy Johnson gives them a decent chance to win..(if they can actually score a few runs) but as evidenced by his last start, he can't help with his shoulder inflamed.