Dodgers at Cardinals, 4:15 PM PDT, TV: SPNLA, FS-M, MLBN (out-of-market only)

LHP Clayton Kershaw (7-5, 2.42 ERA) goes for the Dodgers at Busch Stadium this evening against the home teams’ LHP Austin Gomber (5-0, 2.93 ERA). Kershaw has given up no more than two earned runs in a game since July 15 and hasn’t lost since April 25 (okay, that sounds better than his record indicates; he was on the DL for nearly two months). Gomber made his MLB debut in June of this season; the Cardinals have won eight of his nine starts, including one against the Dodgers on August 20. That was Kenley Jansen’s first game back from his heart-related stint on the DL, the one in which he gave up two home runs in the ninth inning.

Houston Mitchell of the LA Times has a cold-eyed look at the Dodgers, their 2018 record and its splits, and its players WAR relative to prior seasons. For example:

They are 12-4 against San Diego and 4-0 against Texas, meaning they are 63-63 against everyone else.

There’s an “Ask Ross Porter” segment to Mitchell’s column, and I found this interesting:

Bill Russell, who played in a Los Angeles Dodger record 2,181 games, has been an MLB umpire supervisor since 2002 and sees all Angels and Dodgers home games. Bill tells me the umpiring is as good today as when he played.

Read the rest.

On this day in Dodgers’ history:

• 1925 In the first game of a twin bill, Robins’ (Dodgers) starter Dazzy Vance no-hits the Phillies at Ebbets Field, 10-1. The Brooklyn hurler had one-hit the team from the City of Brotherly Love five days earlier.
• 2005 During the six-run second inning uprising by San Diego, each Dodger outfielder commits an error. The fielding of Ricky Ledee (lf), Jose Cruz Jr. (right field), and Jayson Werth (cf) contributes to the 6-4 loss to the first place Padres.

Lineup: