What Happened To The Los Angeles Dodgers?

One month ago, the Los Angeles Dodgers had just pulled off a massive 9-player trade with the Boston Red Sox to acquire slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. When that deal was completed, most fans thought the Dodgers would have enough pieces in place to return to the playoffs. Think again.

Instead, injuries have destroyed their division title chances, and now a Wild Card seems remote at best. The Dodgers enter play tonight 10 games behind the San Francisco Giants and three games behind St. Louis for the final Wild Card spot. They went 14-14 in August and are just 7-10 in September. Meanwhile, the Giants are 31-16 over the last two months. Injuries to pitchers Ted Lilly, Chad Billingsly, and now ace Clayton Kershaw have had a huge impact on their September run. Gonzalez, who was supposed to provide the offensive punch the team lacked, is hitting only .245 in 24 games with the Dodgers. His only home run in a Los Angeles uniform came during his first game with the team. Pitcher Josh Beckett, who also came over along with the injured Carl Crawford in the Boston trade, has pitched well, but not enough to save their season. With their final 12 games against Cincinnati, San Diego, Colorado, and San Francisco, manager Don Mattingly will have to pull a rabbit out of his hat to save their season and play in October.