LA Dodgers' pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke earn NL Co-Players of the Week honor

Despite their recent hiccup moments at the All-Star game, Los Angeles Dodgers' starting pitchers Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw otherwise have been a nightmare for hitters the past week.  Major League Baseball fittingly recognized their stellar performances, naming the pair National League Co-Players of the Week for July 17-19.

Fresh off of his first career All-Star Game start, Greinke was dominant on Sunday, tossing 8.0 scoreless innings and fanning 11, while allowing just three hits and one walk in a 5-0 win at Washington.  Greinke is 9-2 on the season with a Major League-best 1.30 ERA.

With the 8.0 shutout frames, the righty extended his scoreless innings streak to 43.2, marking the longest such streak by a Major League pitcher since the Dodgers' Orel Hershiser set the record of 59.0 consecutive shutout innings in 1988.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other pitchers with streaks as long as Greinke’s during the expansion era (since 1961) are Hershiser, Don Drysdale (58.0 innings in 1968), and Bob Gibson (47.0 innings in 1968). With his sixth consecutive scoreless outing (dating back to June 18th), Greinke joined Drysdale and Hershiser as the only pitchers in Major League history to not allow a run in six straight starts (Elias Sports Bureau).

Kershaw also dazzled in his first start following the Midsummer Classic. The reigning NL Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award winner tossed 8.0 scoreless innings on Saturday, allowing just three hits and no walks while recording a season-high 14 strikeouts en route to a 4-2 victory at Washington.

The southpaw improved to 7-6 on the season with the outing, which was his second consecutive scoreless game with double-digit k's. On July 8th, he fired a complete-game shutout with 13 strikeouts in a 5-0 win over Philadelphia. Kershaw’s 174 strikeouts are the most in the Majors this year. This is his seventh career NL Player of the Week honor, having won most recently for June 1-7, 2015.

Other noteworthy performances last week included Greinke and Kershaw’s Dodgers teammate Adrian Gonzalez (.636, 4 R, 7 H, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 1.273 SLG); Jason Heyward (.778, 2 R, 7 H, 2 RBI, 2 SB, 1.273 SLG, .800 OBP) of the St. Louis Cardinals; and Cincinnati’s Joey Votto (.583, 7 H, HR, 2 RBI, 1.000 SLG, .643 OBP).

Dodgers place catcher A.J. Ellis on DL

In other Dodgers news, the team today recalled catcher Austin Barnes from Triple-A Oklahoma City and placed catcher A.J. Ellis on the 15-day disabled list (right knee inflammation).

Barnes, 25, will enter his second stint with Los Angeles and will make his third career Major League start today, after appearing in five games for the club earlier this season and batting .200 (1-for-5) with a walk and a strikeout. In 62 games for Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, he has batted .304 with 13 doubles, a triple, eight home runs and 38 RBI. Barnes has drawn more walks (28) than strikeouts (26) this season, with a .385 on-base percentage and has also posted a .484 slugging percentage. He last played for Oklahoma City on Saturday, going 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and a run scored.

Ellis appeared in 32 games this season, batting .222 with four doubles, two home runs and seven RBI. He currently has a season-high six-game hitting streak, hitting .400 (8-for-20) with a double, two home runs and four RBI since July 1.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services