Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
First things first: I’m so, so sorry for that headline. Probably not as much as I should be, but then again, Yasiel Puig doesn’t go to the zoo every day (I mean… probably. Right? If anyone would go to the zoo every day, doesn’t it seem like it’d be Puig?) and meet polar bears and gorillas (all while making fun of Juan Uribe, and just imagine how that’d feel if it were, say, Paul Maholm doing it instead… eesh) and snakes:
http://instagram.com/p/pHa0QHDYY1/
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Dodgers
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Reds
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4:10pm PT
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Cincinnati, OH
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2B
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Gordon
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CF
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Hamilton
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3B
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Figgins
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3B
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Frazier
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RF
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Puig
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1B
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Votto
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1B
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Gonzalez
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2B
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Phillips
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LF
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Kemp
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RF
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Bruce
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CF
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Ethier
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LF
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Ludwick
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SS
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Rojas
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C
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Pena
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C
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Butera
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SS
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Cozart
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P
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Ryu (L)
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P
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Cueto (R)
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Save that. Love it. Maybe it’s because we’re in our blue-colored bubble, but it really is incredible how the perception of Puig has quickly gone from “immature powder keg who will destroy the team” to “lovable youngster with a healthy attitude for life.” It’s amazing how hitting a few cutoff men and hitting .335/.429/.585 will change what people think of you, I guess.
Not to be lost, I suppose, in the rush to judge how terrible this team is would be the fact that they’ve actually won four of five and have gained a game on the Giants in each of the last two days. It won’t be easy tonight, however; not only did the Reds get Joey Votto back last night, they have Johnny Cueto on the mound tonight, merely having the best season of his career.
But look at us, talking about the game like there’s no bad news to talk about. It’s the Dodgers! Of course there is. First, we learned that Chad Billingsley‘s latest bullpen session “didn’t go well,” and he’s now being shut down with a doctor’s visit in his future. At this point, I think it’s safe to say he can’t be counted on at all for 2014. Anything you get — if anything at all — is gravy. Which is really, really sad.
Then, less than 20 minutes before first pitch, David Vassegh dropped this on us: Hanley Ramirez was scratched from the lineup, replaced by Miguel Rojas. The Dodgers tweeted out that it was “right AC joint irritation,” and there’s just nothing at all good about that, because it’s not like a bum shoulder has ever hurt a Dodger power hitter before.
And, of course, the weather. After last night’s long delay, there’s more bad weather in the air tonight, and more tomorrow, when the final game of the series is scheduled for 12:35pm before the Dodgers jet back home to face Arizona on Friday. There was a strong band of rain about an hour ago, though the game is expected to start on time. Nothing’s ever easy, is it?
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