Sep 16

Game 145, 2015

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Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Just as last night, two lefties take the mound against one another this evening in the rubber match of the series. Alex Wood (10-10, 3.81 ERA) goes for the Dodgers, trying to recover from his worst outing since he joined the team in July. In that one he went only 1 2/3 innings and gave up home runs to two Diamondbacks. His Rockies’ opponent will be Jorge De La Rosa (9-6, 4.28 ERA). Somehow he’s pitched enough against the Dodgers to achieve a 7-10 lifetime record against them.

Lineup when available.

If I’m Wood I’m wondering if I need to throw a shutout to win.

No, no, that’s not fair. Most of those guys can hit perfectly well.

Sep 15

Game 144, 2015

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Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Two lefties face one another: Brett Anderson for the Dodgers (9-8, 3.36 ERA in 158 innings this season, more than he’s had since his rookie year of 2009) and Chris Rusin for the Rockies (5-8, 5.14 ERA in 110 innings). Rusin started off well this year, going 3-2 through June, but he’s 2-6 in 18 starts since. Anderson left his last start after 5 2/3 innings with a calf cramp and has had three extra days of rest to help it heal. He’s done well limiting opponents: he’s given up three runs or fewer in 24 of his 27 starts.

Lineup:

Sep 14

Game 143, 2015

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Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Kershaw v. Gray. One’s 13-6 with a 2.15 ERA, the other is 0-0 with a 5.17 ERA. His team is 1-6 in his seven starts since he was called up. Looks like a walkover, right? No bets. Kershaw could have an off night, and the Rockies have some hot hitters in Nolan Arenado and Carlos Gonzalez.

Here’s a sign:

The Rockies are 7-26 against left-handed starters and are expected to face three lefties in Los Angeles: Kershaw, Brett Anderson and Alex Wood.

Lineup:

Sep 13

Game 142, 2015

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Dodgers at Diamondbacks, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-D

Zack Greinke (16-3, 1.68 ERA) goes for the Dodgers. He last faced the D-Backs on April 12 when he shut them out for seven innings, giving up only five hits and getting his first win of the year. He’ll face the left-handed Patrick Corbin (5-3, 3.32 ERA), who missed the first three months of the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery in March of 2014. Corbin has won his last two starts, although he’s not gotten past the sixth inning in either one.

Lineup:

Bonus coverage: Cory Seager on his first big league home run.

Bonus bonus coverage: Padres at Giants.

Sep 12

Game 141, 2015

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Dodgers at D-Backs, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

Mike Bolsinger makes another spot start for the Dodgers. He’s been pretty effective for them this season at 6-3 with a 2.97 ERA. He once played for the Diamondbacks and has faced them twice this year, giving up two runs and six hits in eleven innings. Rubby De La Rosa will pitch for the Arizona team; he’s 12-7 with a 4.49 ERA. He pitched for the Dodgers in 2011-2012, going 4-5 as a starter before being traded to the Red Sox in the Crawford-Gonzalez deal.

Lineup:

Grandal’s shoulder has seemingly improved enough to play, while Rollins’ finger has not.

Sep 11

Game 140, 2015

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Dodgers at D-Backs, 6:40PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS-A

Alex Wood (10-9, 3.51 ERA) goes for the Dodgers against Robbie Ray (3-11, 3.72 ERA). Wood had his best outing as a Dodger in his last start, going seven scoreless innings against the Padres. Lefty Ray’s record doesn’t show it, but of his 18 starts this season, 8 have been quality ones.

Lineup when available.

Stack the lineup with right-handed hitters against the lefty.

Other news:

Sep 09

Game 139, 2015

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Dodgers at Angels, 7:00PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSW, ESPN

The Dodgers are on national TV again, so of course they send out their worst starting pitcher. Gotta make a good impression, right? Mat Latos, who is 4-9 with a 4.92 ERA overall but 0-2 with a 6.56 ERA since coming over to the Dodgers in July, will try to right his personal ship. He hasn’t gotten past the 4th inning since his only previous outing against the Angels back on August 2 when he went six innings, gave up four hits and one run but got no decision.

Latos’s counterpart will be Garrett Richards, who is 13-10 with a 3.77 ERA and quality starts in five of his last six starts. You can’t call him a Dodger-killer yet, but he does have a 1.59 ERA in 22 2/3 career innings against them. The last time Richards faced the Dodgers, on Aug. 4, 2014, he pitched a shutout.

Lineup when available.

It’s Wieland rather than Latos because Latos reported neck stiffness. Wieland’s a 25-year-old righthander with 43 2/3 innings of big league experience. He first came up with San Diego in 2012. He’s been in 10 major league games, all as a starter. He’s 1-5 with a 5.98 ERA over that time.

Sep 08

Game 138, 2015

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Dodgers at Angels, 7:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSW

Kershaw versus Heaney. The prime-time pitcher versus the rookie. Heaney, briefly a Dodger last winter, is 6-2 with a 3.18 ERA. Kershaw is 12-6 with a 2.18 ERA.

Kershaw will want to be wary of Pujols, who is hitting .440 off the Dodgers’ ace and has a .563 on-base percentage, the third-highest mark by anyone with at least 10 at-bats against him.

Lineup when available.

Load up with right-handed hitters!

Sep 07

Game 137, 2015

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Dodgers at Angels, 6:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSW

Down I-5 (or maybe up, considering they just played four games in San Diego) to Anaheim, home of the Angels. Pujols and Trout versus Greinke and Kershaw. The Angels are 5-5 over their last ten games, which has left them 5 1/2 games behind the Astros in the AL West and 2 1/2 games behind in the race for the AL’s second Wild Card.

Today the Dodgers send Zack Greinke out in search of his 16th win to go along with his MLB-leading ERA of 1.59. The Angels send out Nick Tropeano, who’s had three separate single-game stints with the team earlier in the year and is a September call-up. He’s 1-2 with a 5.51 ERA in MLB this year. In his tours with the AAA Salt Lake City Bees he was 3-6 with a 4.81 ERA.

Odd fact: “The Angels lead the all-time series against the Dodgers, 57-46. But the Dodgers swept the Angels in August and have won the last six meetings.”

Lineup when available.

Sep 06

Game 136, 2015

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Dodgers at Padres, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD

Brett Anderson (8-8, 3.43 ERA) goes for the Dodgers, while Andrew Cashner (5-13, 4.15 ERA) pitches for the Padres. Anderson is looking for his third straight win and fourth in his last five starts. He’ll have to do it against a lineup he’s mostly never seen; the last time he faced the Padres was in 2009 when he was with Oakland. Cashner’s record is a little misleading; he’s had 22 unearned runs scored against him in his 26 starts.

Anderson is in uncharted territory. He’s pitched more innings (152 1/3) than he has since his rookie year in 2009 when he threw 175 1/3. He’s got more quality starts this year (16) than he’s ever had in a season. The difference is that he’s been healthy all year.

“It takes a while to get this body going,” Anderson joked. “I have to get here a little bit earlier than most guys and do my core stuff and back stuff. It’s not fun, but it’s one of those necessary evils. I’d rather not have to do it, but it’s the cards I was dealt with.”

Lineup:


Huh. Turner at second, Seager at third. Oh well, why not?