Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Let’s start with the most important news: Tonight’s game is the nationally-broadcast Sunday Night Baseball game on ESPN. It’s not supposed to be blacked out in Los Angeles. You can watch this!
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Dodgers
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Pirates
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5:05 p.m. PT
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Pittsburgh, Pa.
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SS
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Rollins
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RF
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Polanco
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2B
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Kendrick
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LF
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Marte
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1B
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Gonzalez
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CF
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McCutchen
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RF
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Ethier
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3B
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Ramirez
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C
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Grandal
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SS |
Kang
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LF
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Crawford
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1B
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Morse
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3B
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Callaspo
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C
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Cervelli
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| CF |
Pederson
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2B
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Walker
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P
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Wood (L)
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P
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Morton (R)
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And you should, of course. The Pirates are a really good team. So are the Dodgers. Though the first few games of this series have often been frustrating, they’ve also been a potential playoff preview between two of the better teams in the game. (Reminder, again: No, the “record against teams with a record above .500” thing does not matter, at all, even a little.)
You’ll notice, tonight, that Yasiel Puig is out of the lineup. It makes sense, though, and it doesn’t feel like a “benching,” though it’s been positioned that way elsewhere. You have to get Carl Crawford some starts now and then, and with righty Charlie Morton going tonight, and a red-eye back to Los Angeles to face lefty Gio Gonzalez and the Nationals tomorrow night, this is pretty much the ideal time to do it.
Elsewhere! The Giants fell to the Cubs 2-0 at Wrigley this afternoon, and the Dodgers are 3.5 games up on San Francisco, and today will be the 116th day of the season that the Dodgers are in first place, and… why does everyone seem so down? The bullpen, sure. Joc Pederson‘s slump, yes, which we’ll have more on tomorrow. The lack of Justin Turner isn’t helping, no doubt. Maybe it’s just August. Knock it off, August.
Mostly, though, Alex Wood gets a spot on national television against a pretty good lineup. This should be fun. Make it fun.
