A look back at the week of Aug. 11-17, which saw the other two California teams the only teams in the division with winning weeks. The Giants gained a game on the Dodgers, and the Padres haven't had a losing week since before the All-Star break. As luck would have it, San Diego is next on the docket for the Dodgers.
Team recaps
Giants (3-2): San Francisco stayed home for the week, with off days before and after a two-game interleague tilt with the White Sox. They split with Chicago, lost in extra innings on Friday night to the Phillies, but recovered with two weekend wins, including a comeback win on Saturday after they were down 5-1.
Padres (4-3): San Diego swept the Rockies at home to give them 11 wins in 14 games, but then dropped three of four games to Bob Davidson and the Cardinals in St. Louis.
Rockies (3-4): Colorado recovered from getting swept in San Diego to take three of four games at home against the Reds, but it wasn't easy. Saturday's plans were canceled thanks to a water main break outside Coors Field, and both Sunday wins in their day-night doubleheader included a five-run ninth inning in Game 1 and eight runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings to win Game 2.
Todd Helton had his jersey number 17 retired by the Rockies on Sunday.
Dodgers (3-4): Los Angeles won three of four in Atlanta to improve the best road record in baseball, then got swept by the Brewers at Dodger Stadium to drop to .500 at home.
Diamondbacks (2-4): Arizona alternated losses and wins in five consecutive one-run games in Cleveland and Miami, then got blown out 10-3 by the Marlins on Sunday to finish a losing week.
What's in store this week
Diamondbacks: Arizona has a four-game series against the Nationals in Washington, then returns home to host the Padres.
Rockies: Colorado remains home all week, with off days surrounding a two-game interleague series against the Royals, followed by a three-game weekend series against the Marlins.
Dodgers: The nine-game homestand continues Tuesday with games against the Padres and Mets.
Padres: It's all NL West this week for San Diego, with three-game road series in Los Angeles and Phoenix.
Giants: San Francisco is off Monday, then hit the road for three games against the Cubs then a weekend series with the Nationals. The Giants' three games at Wrigley Field this week amazingly include no day games.
Player of the week
Mike Morse was dormant for two months for the Giants - hitting .247/.300/.335 with two home runs, eight RBI and seven runs scored in 46 games from June 14 to Aug. 9 - but rebounded in a big way last week, going 9-for-14 (.643) with two doubles, a home run, a triple, three walks, four runs scored and four RBI in five games.
Honorable mention goes to Corey Dickerson for the Rockies, who won actual National League Player of the Week honors by hitting .393 (11-for-28) with three home runs, four doubles and 11 RBI.
Best individual performance
Padres second baseman Jedd Gyorko was nominated twice for this category, going 4-for-4 with two doubles on Wednesday against the Rockies and going 2-for-3 with a home run, two walks and five RBI on Saturday in St. Louis. The home run on Saturday was the 31st of his career, setting one of the saddest franchise records in baseball.
Team of the week
The Giants gained a game on the Dodgers in the division, and have a 1½-game lead over Pittsburgh and Atlanta for the second wild card spot. San Francisco outscored their opponents 23-16 during the week.
Worst individual performance
Diamondbacks shortstop Didi Gregorius was 0-for-19 with a walk and a sacrifice bunt in five games, and is hitless in his last 21 at-bats.
Honorable mention goes to Padres first baseman Yonder Alonso, who hasn't been good, or healthy, this season, hitting just .240/.285/.397 with seven home runs. But this week he was 2-for-3 with a home run and two walks, and since returning from the disabled list was very productive for San Diego, hitting .421/.477/.737 with seven extra-base hits in 15 games. But his week was still bad for Alonso, who "heard a pop" in his right forearm strain and is now out for the season.