Dodgers at Nationals, 4:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN
Mike Bolsinger (4-3, 3.08 ERA) goes for the Dodgers against Jordan Zimmermann (8-5, 3.22 ERA) of the Nats. Bolsinger pitched his first quality start in a month in his last outing before the break, while Zimmermann struggled for five innings against the Orioles but got the win anyway.
The Nats are 48-39 and lead the NL East by 2 games over the Mets. The Dodgers are 51-39 and lead the NL West by 4 1/2 games over the Giants.
Lineup when available.
Brewers at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA
Mike Bolsinger had success early in the season for the Dodgers, but his last five starts have been less than scintillating. He’s gone no further than 5 1/3 innings in any of them and is 0-2 during that stretch. Overall he’s 4-3 with a 3.09 ERA. The Brewers send out Jimmy Nelson, who’s 6-8 with a 4.50 ERA but has also had trouble getting deep into games recently: he hasn’t gotten past the sixth inning in five of his last seven starts.
Lineup:
Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. Brewers:
Pederson CF
Kendrick 2B
Turner 3B
Gonzalez 1B
Grandal C
Puig RF
Guerrero LF
Rollins SS
Bolsinger P
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 10, 2015
Kershaw came in third in the ASG Final Vote count, so he’s going to sit in LA or go home to Texas for a few days, I imagine.
Mets at Dodgers, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA
Mike Bolsinger goes for the Dodgers and Steven Matz goes for the Mets. The Mets’ Matz will be making only his second big league start, and it seems unlikely he’ll do better than his first. In his debut he went 7 2/3 innings against the Reds, gave up only five hits and two runs, got three hits and drove in four runs, and got the win.
Bolsinger, meanwhile, has fallen off from his early-season success. In his first five starts for the Dodgers he was 3-1 with a 1.15 ERA, but in his last six starts he’s 1-1 with a 4.40 ERA. He’s even suffered the indignity of food poisoning, which shortened his last start to four innings.
Lineup:
Today’s #Dodgers lineup vs. Mets:
Hernandez SS
Kendrick 2B
Turner 3B
Gonzalez 1B
Puig RF
Van Slyke LF
Pederson CF
Ellis C
Bolsinger P
Dodger at D-Backs, 6:40PM PT, TV: SPNLA
The Dodgers’ Bolsinger (4-2, 2.95 ERA) versus the Diamondbacks’ Webster (1-1, 6.46 ERA). Each pitcher was originally signed by his opponent today, Bolsinger by the D-Backs in the 15th round in 2010 and Webster by the Dodgers in the 18th round in 2008.
Lineups later.
Tonight’s #Dodgers lineup vs. D-backs:
Pederson CF
Kendrick 2B
Turner 3B
Gonzalez 1B
Puig RF
Ethier LF
Grandal C
Rollins SS
Bolsinger P
Dodgers at Cubs, 5:05PM PT, TV: SPNLA, ESPN2
Another battle of righthanders today, as Chicago native Mike Bolsinger goes for the Dodgers while Kyle Hendricks goes for the Cubs. Bolsinger is 4-2 with a 2.87 ERA; Hendricks is 2-3 with a 4.28 ERA. Hendricks has made six starts at Wrigley and remains winless, while Bolsinger is winless on the road and 1-2 in his last five starts.
Lineup:
Tonight's #Dodgers lineup:
Hernandez 2B
Pederson CF
Turner 3B
Gonzalez 1B
Puig RF
Ethier LF
Grandal C
Rollins SS
Bolsinger P
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 24, 2015
Giants at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA
The Giants send out Chris Heston, one start removed from a no-hitter on July 9 against the Mets. He’s 6-5 with a 3.76 ERA on the season. He’ll face Mike Bolsinger of the Dodgers, who’s 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA (4-0, 1.01 ERA at home).
Lineup when available.
Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. Giants:
Puig RF
Pederson CF
Turner 3B
Gonzalez 1B
Kendrick 2B
Ethier LF
Grandal C
Rollins SS
Bolsinger P
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 19, 2015
Dodgers at Padres, 1:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, FSSD
Mike Bolsinger brings his 4-1 record and his 2.08 ERA out on the road, where his ERA is 3.78. He’s going to try to get the better of James Shields, who’s unbeaten at 7-0 with a 3.79 ERA. Shields has made three career starts against the Dodgers and has never lost to them.
Howie Kendrick and Jimmie Rollins have both had success against Shields in the past, each hitting a cool .500 in 32 and 14 ABS, respectively.
Lineup (From ESPN; the Dodgers haven’t tweeted it yet).
Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA
Old friend Rubby De La Rosa pitched 61 1/3 innings for the Dodgers in 2011-2012 before being traded to Boston in the Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford deal. He was traded to the D-Backs last winter and will take the hill for the D-Backs tonight, sporting a record of 4-2 and a 5.09 ERA. He’s had four consecutive no-decisions but has given up four or more runs in four of his last five starts including seven his last time out.
The Dodgers counter with Mike Bolsinger, who’s been a really pleasant surprise. He’s 3-1 with a 1.98 ERA despite giving up four runs in five innings in his last start.
The Dodgers have beaten the D-Backs six consecutive times in Dodger Stadium including a three-game sweep in April.
In other news, MLB’s draft begins today and the D-Backs have the first pick.
Lineup:
Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. D-backs:
Pederson CF
Turner 3B
Gonzalez 1B
Kendrick 2B
Grandal C
Guerrero LF
Ethier RF
Rollins SS
Bolsinger P
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 8, 2015
Dodgers at Cardinals, 5:15PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN, FS-M
The Dodgers hope Mike Bolsinger can come close to duplicating his last outing, when he gave up only one hit and got 23 consecutive hitters out at one stage of the game. He’s 3-0 with a Kershaw-like ERA of 0.71. He also grew up a Cubs fan, so he’s got a built-in dislike of the Cardinals. The Redbirds send out 36-year-old 154-game winner John Lackey, who’s 2-3 with a 3.18 ERA.
Lineup when available.
Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. Cardinals:
Pederson CF
Rollins SS
Kendrick 2B
Gonzalez 1B
Turner 3B
Ethier RF
Guerrero LF
Ellis C
Bolsinger P
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 29, 2015
Padres at Dodgers, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN, FSSD
Right-hander Mike Bolsinger tries to continue his early-season success (he’s 2-0 with a 1.04 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings, all starts) against right-hander Ian Kennedy, who’s had a slow start. He’s 2-3 with a 6.75 ERA over 6 starts and a 2-1 K/BB ratio.
Grandal wasn’t scheduled to play today anyway, according to Mattingly, but now they’re going to monitor him for concussion and rest him at least until tomorrow. If it’s determined he has been concussed he’ll likely go on the 7-day DL, which was instituted in 2011 for just this kind of circumstance.
Of note to the strikeout-obsessed: “Pederson has struck out four times in his past 39 plate appearances (10.3 percent). Prior to that in 2015, he had struck out 43 times in 127 plate appearances (33.9 percent).”
Fun fact: There was some wondering about one-pitch winners and whether a reliever could win a game without throwing a pitch. It reminded me of Tippy Martinez of the Orioles, who picked off three runners in the tenth inning of a game against the Blue Jays in 1983. Infielder Lenn Sakata had been pressed into duty as the catcher because the Os had used both their starter and his backup in the rally in the ninth to tie the game. Sensibly, the Jays thought they could run on Sakata. The first three guys got on base, and Martinez picked off each one (see Roger Angell’s “Season Ticket” for another description). To make it even sweeter, Martinez got the win when Sakata homered in the bottom of the tenth.
Lineup when available.
Tonight's #Dodgers lineup vs. Padres:
Pederson CF
Rollins SS
Kendrick 2B
Gonzalez 1B
Turner 3B
Ethier RF
Van Slyke LF
Ellis C
Bolsinger P
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 23, 2015