Jul 23

Game 103, 2014

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 18

Game 98, 2014

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 11

Game 95, 2014

Padres at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD

Poor Dan Haren (8-5, 4.06 ERA). He has to follow Kershaw in the rotation, and he invariably suffers by comparison. He’s kept the Dodgers in most of the games he’s started, though, and for a fifth starter that’s all that one can reasonably ask. The Padres send out rookie right-hander Jesse Hahn, who is 4-2 with a 2.34 ERA in six starts this season.

Jul 05

Game 90, 2014

Dodgers at Rockies, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

Dan Haren’s record of 8-4 with a 3.57 ERA would look very good on most teams. His last start was probably his best of the season, and he says he’s just trying to keep up.

“I’ve been on good staffs, but it’s tough to hold my weight here,” Haren said. “Every time out the guys are dealing. I’ve just tried to maintain the momentum and haven’t done that until [the last start].”

His pitching opponent today will be Jorge De La Rosa, who gave up eight runs to the Dodgers the last time he faced them in June, when he lost to Kershaw in the no-hit game. Lefty De La Rosa is 8-6 with a 4.86 ERA.

Believe it or not, the Dodgers have made it to 50 wins this season faster than all but two other teams — the As lead the AL West with 53 and the Brewers (the Brewers?) are atop the NL Central with 51.

Jun 30

Game 85, 2014

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

The Dodgers put their trust in Dan Haren, 7-4 with a 3.83 ERA. He’s given up 14 home runs in his last nine starts, which isn’t good. The Indians counter with Corey Kluber, a right-hander who is 7-5 with a 3.09 ERA.

“Monday’s series opener marks just the seventh time the Tribe has played the Dodgers. Cleveland is 2-4 in the overall series but went 2-1 in Dodger Stadium in 2008.” Well, I don’t want to remember that 1920 World Series either.

The Dodgers put Justin Turner on the 15-day DL with a hamstring injury and called up Carlos Triunfel from Albuquerque. This is Triunfel’s second trip to the big club this season; he was 2-for-7 in seven games with the Dodgers earlier in June. He was hitting .210 for the Isotopes.

Lineup when available.

Jun 25

Game 80, 2014

Dodgers at Royals, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA

James Shields (8-3, 3.70 ERA) will pitch for the Royals, and Dan Haren (7-4, 3.62 ERA) goes for the Dodgers. Each guy has been hit with the home run bug recently. In Shields’ last game he gave up two dingers for four runs, while Haren had given up ten HRS in seven starts prior to his last one, and he didn’t improve. He gave up two to Seth Smith of the Padres that night.

History: In 267 career starts, Shields has never faced the Dodgers, while Haren owns a 5-2 record and a 2.77 ERA against the Royals in 11 career starts.

There’s no word yet on whether Hanley Ramirez’s shoulder will allow him to play.

Lineup when available.

Jun 20

Game 75, 2014

Dodgers at Padres, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD

The Padres send out Ian Kennedy tonight. He’s 5-8 with a 3.72 ERA. The Dodgers counter with Dan Haren. He’s 7-4 with a 3.54 ERA, but he’s been having trouble with the long ball. He’s given up ten HRs in his last seven starts.

“The Dodgers’ last homestand was their first with a winning record this season. They began it 13-19 at Dodger Stadium and finished 17-20.” Also, they’ve won three straight. They haven’t had a winning streak longer than three games all season long. Can they expand it tonight?

Kershaw talked to ESPN about his no-hitter one day later.

Lineup when available.

Jun 14

Game 70, 2014

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN, SNLA Spanish

Dan Haren takes his record of 6-4 with a 3.49 ERA to the hill for the Dodgers. He’ll be facing Josh Collmenter, who is 4-3 with a 3.65 ERA.

If they had Uribear back this would almost be the season’s starting lineup. Juan is running curves (?) on the field and may be ready for a rehab assignment soon.

In other injury news, Chad Billingsley tore his flexor tendon on his way toward rehab outings in Albuquerque and will talk to reporters about his options today.

Jun 09

Game 65, 2014

Dodgers at Reds, 4:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA and ESPN (no blackout, supposedly)

Dan Haren has fallen on hard times recently, but he’s still got a 5-4 record and a 3.50 ERA. His opponent is LHP Tony Cingrani, who’s got a record of 2-6 with a 4.09 ERA. Cingrani had a good five innings last Wednesday against the Giants but gave up three runs after two outs in the sixth and lost the game.

I think we can assume that some of the Reds really look forward to facing Dan Haren:

Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips, right fielder Ryan Ludwick and shortstop Zack Cozart each have a pair of home runs in their careers against Haren. Phillips is 6-for-18 (.333) with five RBIs against the right-hander, Ludwick is 5-for-9 (.556) with four RBIs, and Cozart is 3-for-5 with four RBIs.

Puig and Gordon are still day-to-day. Apparently Gordon is more iffy than Puig, since Puig is in the lineup today.

Jun 03

Game 60, 2014

White Sox at Dodgers, 7:10PM, PT, TV: SPNLA

Dan Haren goes for the Dodgers. He hasn’t won since May 12 and his record is now 5-3, 3.28 ERA. I’m sure that’s not what he’d like it to be (although it ain’t all that bad), but it pales in comparison to poor Hector Noesi, who’s starting for the White Sox. The poor guy is 0-14 with a 5.87 ERA over his last 40 appearances, including 19 starts. His last two starts were quality but resulted in no decision for him each time, despite a 2.70 ERA in 13.1 innings.

The Dodgers’ Justin Turner has six RBI in his last three games. Over the last month he’s hit .339, raising his season average to .261.

On the All-Star ballot, “. . . Dodgers star Yasiel Puig (935,276) made an astronomical jump from fifth to first in the outfield voting. He now leads a field that includes Charlie Blackmon (last week’s top outfield vote-getter, now with 883,186 votes) and Giancarlo Stanton (863,307) as the outfielders currently in position to start.”

Puig says thank you to the fans and voters.

The Dodgers put together a Year-in-Review video of Mr. Puig which is full of memories of last season and the first two months of this one.