May 06

Game 34, 2014 — The Return of Kershaw

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

The Dodgers have been getting very good starting pitching this season, even without their ace. Tonight will be Kershaw’s first start since the Antipodean Opening Day on March 22 in Sydney, Australia. He’s had two successful rehab starts in the minors after getting the word from the docs that his shoulder muscle was healed.

The Nats send out Blake Treinen, a right-hander with a record of 0-0 with a 1.35 ERA. He’s been at AAA Syracuse. This will be his first career start.

May 05

Game 33, 2014

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

Zack Greinke puts his 5-0, 2.04 ERA record on the line against the Nats’ Jordan Zimmermann and his record of 2-1, 3.27 ERA. The Nationals have never beaten Greinke. He’s 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA in four lifetime starts against Washington, and his last time out against them he threw six scoreless innings last July 20 in his only start at Nationals Park. Zimmerman is looking for his second consecutive win.

Lineup when available.

According to Bill Plunkett of the Orange Country Register “Yasiel Puig will not be taking batting practice on the field with #Dodgers Rode stationary bike this afternoon, headaches came back.”

May 04

It seems worse than this

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Here are the Dodgers’ team stats with runners in scoring position so far this season (the Runs column is N/A for every team; I’m not sure what the statisticians are doing with that) :

AVG R H HR 2B 3B RBI SB OBP SLG
.253 N/A 72 9 11 1 98 10 .334 .393

They’re 13th of 30 teams. The Rockies lead with a .309 average, and the Padres bring up the rear with a dismal, measly, pick-your-adjective .180.

May 04

Game 32, 2014

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Dodgers at Marlins, 10:10AM PT, TV: SPNLA

The Marlins send Jose Fernandez (4-1, 1.59 ERA) to the hill to face spot-starter Stephen Fife (0-0, 0.00 ERA), just called up from Albuquerque to take Hyun-Jin Ryu’s spot in the rotation. Fernandez is really really good at home. He’s got a 12-0 record with a 1.00 ERA in 19 career starts at Marlins Park.

Lineup when available.

May 03

Game 31, 2014

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

Paul Maholm (1-2, 4.74 ERA) goes for the Dodgers against the Marlins’ Jacob Turner (0-0, 7.50 ERA). Maholm pitched well last time out against the Rockies and is 6-6 with a 4.02 ERA against the Marlins in his career. This is Turner’s second start in MLB.

In other news, A.J. Ellis can’t run without pain yet, so his return is still a few weeks away. That partly explains why the Dodgers sent FedEx down to Albuquerque and brought Olivo up. They could have carried Fedorowicz and his .108 BA for another week, but since Ellis is going to be out longer than that they decided to bring up Olivo, who’d been tearing the cover off the ball with the Isotopes (OBP .438, SLG .661, OPS 1.099).

We won’t see old friend Rafael Furcal this trip. He’s back on rehab assignment with Double-A Jacksonville, and he was in the lineup there on Friday night. The hamstring which put him on the DL at the start of the season is fine, but he strained a groin muscle last weekend while rehabbing.

Lineup when available.

Crawford is in a 4-45 slump since Tax Day, which may explain why he’s not in left field against the right-handed Turner.

May 02

Game 30, 2014

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

Josh Beckett is looking for his first decision of the season against the team which drafted him in 1999. He’s 0-0 with a 2.45 ERA this year over 22 innings. He’ll face Tom Koehler, a right-hander who’s in his first full season in the majors. He’s 2-2 with a 2.97 ERA over 30.1 innings.

Each team swept its last series. The Marlins are 14-14 after beating the Braves three straight and the Dodgers are 17-12 after defeating the Twins three times in less than 36 hours.

No one can doubt that Yasiel Puig likes being on a team. Here are three episodes from the dugout yesterday.

Lineup when available.


Update: This is horrible news:

May 01

Games 28 & 29, 2014

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Dodgers at Twins, 10:10AM PT, TV: SPNLA

Dan Haren, 3-0, 2.03 ERA v. Mike Pelfrey 0-2, 7.32 ERA.

Game Two

Dodgers at Twins, 4:10PT, TV: SPNLA

The Dodgers brought up a pitcher named Red Patterson from the Isotopes to start Game Two. Patterson was added to the 40-man roster Thursday, with outfielder Nick Buss designated for assignment. He was 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA with Albuquerque.

The Twins will pitch Kris Johnson, a lefty they called up from AAA Rochester. He was 2-2 with a 2.86 ERA for the Red Wings in four starts.

The lineup hasn’t yet been announced.

Apr 30

Game 27, 2014

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Rain and snow cause trouble for the Dodgers’ schedule.

Tuesday’s game has been rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader Thursday, with the second game starting at 6:10 p.m. CT, ahead of an overnight flight to Miami, where the Dodgers play a Friday evening game against the Marlins.

Worse, there is a 70 percent chance of precipitation (snow and rain) for both Wednesday and Thursday.

Dodgers at Twins, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA Update: The game is free on MLB.tv

Thanks to yesterday’s rain/snowout, Zack Greinke gets an extra day off before pitching this game. He’s 4-8 with a 4.73 ERA in 22 outings against the Twins, including 18 starts. On the other hand, this season he’s 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings and in the midst of a streak of 16 starts of at least five innings without allowing more than two runs.

Starting for the Twins is Kyle Gibson, who’s 3-1 with a 3.63 ERA this season. This is only his second season in the bigs, and last year he only threw 51-plus innings, going 2-4 with a 6.53 ERA. He’s still almost a rookie.

Hanley Ramirez says his thumb’s fine and he expects to play. The weather may not cooperate, though, as rain is forecast for Wednesday.

Lineup when (or if) available.

Apr 29

No game today

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For your rainout viewing pleasure, here’s a sketch Jimmy Fallon did with Robinson Cano on Cano’s first return to Yankee Stadium after departing for the Mariners as a free agent last offseason.