Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Some of you are going to be excited about tonight’s lineup, and you know who you are. You’re the ones who want Andre Ethier out of the lineup at all costs thanks to his recent slump and Scott Van Slyke in against all pitchers, righty or lefty.
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Cardinals
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Dodgers
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7:10pm PT
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Los Angeles, CA
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3B
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Carpenter
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2B
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Gordon
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LF
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Holliday
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RF
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Puig
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1B
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Adams
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1B
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Gonzalez
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SS
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Peralta
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LF
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Kemp
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C
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Molina
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CF
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Van Slyke
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RF
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Craig
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3B
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Uribe
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CF
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Jay
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C
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Ellis
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2B
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Ellis
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SS
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Rojas
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P
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Martinez (R)
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P
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Ryu (L)
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Well, tonight you get your wish. Against righty Carlos Martinez, Ethier sits, and Van Slyke hits; in fact, only two (Dee Gordon & Adrian Gonzalez) of the eight non-pitcher hitters are lefty. Don Mattingly called it a day to rest “bumps and bruises” for Ethier, and certainly last night’s hard foul off his leg didn’t help, but it obviously can’t be ignored that he’s hitting .202/.247/.310 over the last month. So Van Slyke gets a chance, and while his platoon issues are likely real, he’s certainly earned the chance to show whether or not he can be at least usable against righty pitching.
Also, Hanley Ramirez is not in the lineup again, of course, because why would you put someone who can’t play on the disabled list? Mattingly claims that he “hopes” to be able to use him tonight, though I can’t say I have a lot of confidence in this entire situation.
In the minors, by the way, Stephen Fife has been reactivated by the Isotopes after missing more than a month with arm trouble; he’s scheduled to start the second game of tonight’s doubleheader. (Brian Cavazos-Galvez won the first game with a walkoff homer.) I don’t expect us to see Fife back in the bigs any time soon, but it’s good to know that he’s potentially available starting pitching depth, along with Red Patterson and Zach Lee.
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