Dodgers: Ice cold slugger set for a drastic turnaround in Oakland

The Los Angeles Dodgers made the short plane trip up north for a two-game series against the Oakland Athletics after a much-needed day off.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, luckily, were able to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros and finished the homestand with a critical 3-2 victory.

Los Angeles had a much-needed off day on Monday to regear and reset as the team enters a crucial nine-game stretch.

The Dodgers first start with two games on the road in Oakland to take on the red-hot Oakland Athletics. Winning both games could give the team much-needed confidence against fellow playoff opposition while two losses could start a bad downhill spiral.

Following the Athletics, the Dodgers will make the trip to Colorado for a four-game series against the Rockies. This game will be huge and if either team can get a sweep it will have a huge impact on the NL West. A four-game sweep over the Rockies would be the most important wins for the Dodgers thus far.

Then the Dodgers head back to Chavez Ravine for three games against the San Francisco Giants, that again, will have big NL West implications. While the Giants have been floating in the .500 range for quite some time now, the team could easily put itself back into consideration with a series win against the Boys in Blue.

Overall, this is a very important stretch and LA is going to need to get hot. Thus, one ice cold slugger is going to emerge from a terrible slump and recontinue his early ways. That man is Matt Kemp.

Sarah’s pick — Current streak 1: Manny Machado

My pick for tonight’s game against the A’s is Manny Machado. Tonight in Oakland the Dodgers face Sean Manaea who has been one of the best pitchers Oakland has this season.

He, and the rest of that squad have been so good that the A’s are legitimate contenders for a wild-card spot come October. I’m going with Machado because even though Machado has only seen Manaea once, he’s 1-1 with an RBI.

He and Chris Taylor are the only current Dodgers to have scored a run off Manaea. Though the Dodgers face an uphill battle, they’re sending one of their strongest to the mound, in Rich Hill.

Jason’s pick — Current streak 1: Matt Kemp

Matt Kemp is going to end his cold streak against Manaea and the A’s during this short two-game set, I know it.

Kemp is getting the natural advantage of being a right-handed hitter against a southpaw and is coming off of success against the thriving young arm. Last time Manaea faced the Dodgers Kemp roped a double off the right-field wall in his first at-bat.

We will see something similar tonight and Kemp is finally going to emerge from the nasty 1-35 spell he is in.