Jul 26

Game 105, 2014

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Dodgers at Giants, 6:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN, CSN-BA

Kershaw vs. Vogelsong. Kershaw (11-2 with a 1.92 ERA) was handed his first loss of the season by the Giants back in May in a seven-inning, three-run performance. Overall, though, he’s 11-5 with a 1.48 ERA in 23 games (22 starts) against his San Francisco rivals in his career. Vogelsong, (5-7 with a 3.99 ERA), is 0-0 with a 3.12 ERA in three starts against the Dodgers this year.

Overnight the Giants added Jake Peavy to their rotation, trading left-hander Edwin Escobar and right-hander Heath Hembree to the Red Sox to get him. They’ll also get cash to pay at least some of his salary. One might look at his record (Peavy, 33, is 1-9 with a 4.72 ERA and has allowed an American League-high 20 home runs) and say “Huh?” Well, Peavy and Giants’ manager Bochy were together with the Padres for Peavy’s first five years in the bigs. Also, he’s got a 8-5 record with a 3.90 ERA in 14 career starts at San Francisco’s AT&T Park.

Lineup when available.

Jul 25

Game 104, 2014

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Dodgers at Giants, 7:15PM PT, TV: SPNLA

The end of July is probably a little early to be declaring a series crucial, but this one feels important because the Giants and Dodgers have been trading first place between them for the past three weeks or so, with the largest margin no greater than the two games it was before the Giants lost to the Phillies yesterday. In light of that, the Dodgers set their rotation early; it will be their top three starters Greinke, Kershaw and Ryu to face the back end of the Giants’ rotation: Tim Lincecum, Ryan Vogelsong and Yusmeiro Petit.

Notes: Puig may start tonight. He took extra BP Wednesday. Ramirez is probably not going to start until later in the series, if at all. The Giants have won 7 of the 10 games the two ancient rivals have played so far this season. The Sunday game will be televised on ESPN at 8:07PM ET.

Lineup when available.

Pffft. Ramirez is starting and hitting cleanup, despite what I said above. I based that on his not taking any batting practice, unlike Puig. Thanks, Don!

Jul 23

Game 103, 2014

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Dodgers at Pirates, 4:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLB.TV free game

Dan Haren tries once again to reverse his recent trend toward short bad outings:

Haren’s allowed at least three earned runs in eight of his last 10 starts, and his last three July outings have been particularly rough.

He’s coming off his third straight loss, a 3-2 defeat against the Cardinals on Friday. Haren gave up three runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Before that, he took losses on July 11 against the Padres (four innings, four runs) and on July 5 at Colorado (5 1/3 innings, eight runs).

Haren will face Francisco Liriano, who is 1-7 with a 4.43 ERA and just got off a month-long trip to the DL where he’d been recovering from a strained left oblique.

Lineup when available.

Jul 22

Game 102, 2014

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Dodgers at Pirates, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Josh Beckett has come off the 15-day DL and will pitch tonight, no matter that his hip has a torn labrum and two cysts. He’s making a bid for the National League’s Comeback Player of the Year with a record of 6-5 (okay, not real impressive) and an ERA of 2.26 (very impressive) and his first career no-hitter. He’ll face Vance Worley, who is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA. Worley started off in the Pirates’ rotation in June with three good starts, but he’s gotten out of whack in his last three appearances: his ERA in those games is 5.79 and opponents hit .298 over that stretch.

Puig and Ramirez each had follow-up X-rays on their hands yesterday and they came back negative, showing no breaks. The speculation is that Puig is closer to returning than Ramirez.

Lineup when available.

Jul 21

Game 101, 2014

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Dodgers at Pirates, 4:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Hyun-Jin Ryu brings his 10-5, 3.44 ERA record to bear against the Buccos and Edinson Volquez, who threw a complete game his last start and is 8-6 with a 3.65 ERA on the year.

Ryu had better hope the Dodgers’ offense comes to life. They’ve scored 16 runs in their last eight games; it’s asking too much of the pitchers to hold the opposition to only one run. They may have to do without Yasiel Puig in the lineup and without Hanley Ramirez as well. Puig’s hand will be x-rayed today in Pittsburgh to see whether the original x-ray in St. Louis Saturday night correctly showed no structural damage. Ramirez was hit twice in yesterday’s game, but it’s the second one that’s worrisome: that got him on the hand.

Lineup when available.

Ayup. No Ramirez, no Puig. Thank you, St. Louis pitchers!

Jul 20

Game 100, 2014

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Dodgers at Cardinals, 5:00PM PT, TV: ESPN

The Dodgers hope Kershaw (11-2, 1.78 ERA) can stop the bleeding while they get some runs from their anemic offense. The team has scored 11 runs in its last seven games, contributing mightily to a 3-4 record over that stretch. The Cardinals pitch Carlos Martinez, who is making his seventh start of the season after moving from an eighth-inning setup role. He’s 2-4 on the year with a 4.43 ERA in 63 innings.

Hmm. Kemp has been flailing badly at the plate. Putting him in the cleanup spot is an interesting move.

The Marlins beat the Giants earlier today, so the Dodgers can move back into a tie for first place with a win this evening.

Jul 19

Game 99, 2014

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Dodgers at Cardinals, 1:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FS1

Zack Greinke (11-5, 2.73 ERA) versus Joe Kelly (1-1, 3.44 ERA). Kelly missed most of the first half of the season with a strained hamstring; his last start on July 11 was his first since April, and it didn’t go well: he gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks in three innings.

Jul 18

Game 98, 2014

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Dodgers at Cardinals, 5:15PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN

Dan Haren (8-6, 4.23 ERA) starts for the Dodgers. He undoubtedly hopes to stop giving up home runs in great numbers (17 in his last 12 starts!) for the remainder of the season. Lance Lynn (10-6, 3.14 ERA) will pitch for the Redbirds.

Despite Yasiel Puig’s 3 Ks in the All Star Game and his goose egg in the HR Derby, he had a good first half:

The 23-year-old, second-year pro became one of six players in Dodgers history to record 100-plus hits, 40-plus extra-base hits and 50-plus RBIs before the All-Star break with 106 hits, 44 extra-base hits and 52 RBIs.

Other players in Dodgers history to accomplish the feat include Duke Snider (1954), Willie Davis (1973), Steve Garvey (1977), Gary Sheffield (2000) and Matt Kemp (2011).

That’s some pretty good company right there.

Lineup when available.

Also from Twitter: The #Dodgers today recalled Paco Rodriguez from @AbqTopes. They had roster space because they optioned Pedro Baez back to the Isotopes on July 13.

Jul 13

Puig!

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Heh. Youth will be served.

Addendum (from SI.com)

If anyone wants to discuss the Home Run Derby, Chris Berman’s volubility or Minneapolis’s weather, this seems like a good spot. The Derby has a new format this year, so study up.

Jul 13

Game 97, 2014

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

Hyun-Jin Ryu had a horrid start his last time out. Staked to a five-run lead against Justin Verlander and the Tigers, he promptly gave up that lead and two more runs besides in 2 1/3 innings. That performance was a shock, because he’s been so good this season. He’s lasted at least six innings in 13 of his 17 starts this year, going 9-5 with a 3.65 ERA.

He’ll face Tyson Ross, who’s 7-9 with a 2.93 ERA on the season. He’s gotten no help from his teammates — in four of his five June starts, Ross received just one run of support while he was on the mound and he took the loss in each. Ross is San Diego’s only All-Star Game representative, by the way.

Carl Crawford has been working out in center field, while Justin Turner starts a rehab assignment at Rancho Cucamonga today.