Jun 24

Game 79, 2014

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Dodgers at Royals, 5:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLBN (free game, possibly subject to blackout)

This will be Kershaw’s first outing since his no-hitter. He’s 7-2 with a 2.52 ERA. He’ll face Danny Duffy, who’s had four straight starts in which he’s given up fewer than three runs and two of them none. He’s 4-6 with a 2.80 ERA. Kershaw has never faced the Royals and Duffy has never faced the Dodgers.

In news of the Dodgers’ minor leaguers, Corey Seager and Julio Urias have been selected for the MLB Futures Game to be played on July 13 at Target Field in Minneapolis as part of the All-Star Game festivities.

Lineup when available.

In personnel news via Twitter: “Don Mattingly confirmed Hanley Ramirez is out of lineup because of the right AC Joint irritation that forced a cortisone shot in Cincy.”

Jun 23

Game 78, 2014

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

Zack Greinke returns to the stadium where he began his big league career and where he has a 36-28 record and a 3.48 ERA over 111 appearances. He’ll be facing Jeremy Guthrie, who has a 4-6 record with a 3.86 ERA. Guthrie’s spent his entire career in the AL thus has never faced the Dodgers at all, while Greinke has pitched two games against the Royals, both in 2012 and neither of which resulted in a decision.

Mattingly says he’ll rotate Ramirez, Gonzalez and Puig in the DH spot for the three games in the AL park.

Lineup when available.

Jun 22

Game 77, 2014

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

Hyun-Jin Ryu goes for the Dodgers against old acquaintance Eric Stults. Ryu has an 8-3 record with a 3.18 ERA this season. Past history with the Padres? He’s 1-0 with a 0.68 ERA in two career starts. Stults has had a miserable year so far: he’s 2-9 with a 5.76 ERA, and he’s given up 15 dingers in 75 innings.

Jun 21

One more on Tony Gwynn

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The San Diego State University held a memorial service for Gwynn at the Student Union on campus today. There were a lot of current and retired big leaguers there (Adrian Gonzalez attended from the Dodgers, although probably representing himself as an ex-Padre more than the team), and many of them were pretty teary.

Who was there? Trevor Hoffman. John Kruk. Garry Templeton. Dave Winfield. Ozzie Smith. Rod Carew. Cal Ripken Jr. Steve Finley. Joe Carter. Jerry Royster. Bip Roberts. Padres TV analyst Mark Grant. Padres coaches Bobby Tolan and Rob Picciolo. Barry Bonds. Tony Clark. Bud Black. And more.

Jun 21

Game 76, 2014

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Dodgers at Padres, 7:10PM PT, TV: SPNLA, MLB free game

Josh Beckett deserves better than his 4-4 won-loss record. He’s got a 2.49 ERA and his last loss was his defense’s fault. He pitches for the Dodgers at Petco Park tonight. The Padres counter with Tyson Ross, who’s 6-6 with a 3.27 ERA. His last outing wasn’t good; he walked seven in 5 2/3 innings and lost.

Lineup when available. Puig is day-to-day with a sore hip, apparently a recurrence of the flexor problem he had last week. Uribe is scheduled to play infield at Rancho Cucamonga tonight.

Jun 20

Game 75, 2014

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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 18

Game 74, 2014

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

Colorado sends lefty Jorge De La Rosa and his 6-5, 4.12 ERA to the mound to face the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw, who is 6-2 with a 2.93 ERA.

Can the Dodgers finally be getting onto some kind of a roll? They’ve won 8 of their last 12 and 4 of 5 on this homestand.

This should affect the lineup: “Kemp is hitting .419 with three homers and 10 RBIs against De La Rosa. Adrian Gonzalez is right behind him against the Rockies left-hander at .361, also with three homers and 10 RBIs.” Maybe facing this guy will help Adrian break out of his slump.

Shortly after the game last night Hanley Ramirez tweeted the following:

Lineup when available.

Jun 17

Game 73, 2014

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

It’s the Rockies’ Jhoulys Chacin (1-4, 4.53 ERA) against the Dodgers’ Zack Greinke (8-3, 2.65 ERA). They faced one another on June 7 and neither got the decision, as the game went into extra innings and Brandon Barnes hit a walk-off triple in the 10th.

Chad Billingsley is going to have a second surgery, this one to repair his flexor tendon. “The flexor tendon runs alongside the ulnar collateral ligament that tore and was transplanted last year in a Tommy John procedure. If the flexor tendon tears further after an injection and rehab, it could compromise the repaired ligament,” so he decided on surgery rather than stem-cell injection and therapy. He should be ready for spring training next season.

Jun 16

Game 72, 2014

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

The Rockies pitch a kid making his second big league start, Tyler Matzek. The Dodgers counter with southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu, who is 7-3 with a 3.33 ERA on the season. Young Mr. Matzek is a native of Mission Viejo and a 2009 first-round pick (11th overall) out of Capistrano Valley High School. He will be taking on the Dodgers in front of friends and family.

The Rockies have won five straight, including three come-from-behind wins against the Giants in San Francisco over the weekend, while the Dodgers took two of three from the D-Backs.

In case you missed it, Hall-of-Famer Tony Gwynn died earlier today of cancer of the salivary gland. The cancer first appeared in 2009 and then came back in 2012.

My first memory of Gwynn is as a point guard for San Diego State. When he played for SDSU the school was in the WAC, as was the U of Hawaii. You know how some guys do their best against particular teams? Gwynn seemed to be on top of his game whenever UH played SDSU, as did Marshall Faulk for the Aztecs in football.

Here’s Gwynn at SDSU: