Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Thus ends an odd series in Cincinnati, with a 9:30 a.m. game on a Monday. Sure, why not. The Dodgers send Scott Kazmir out against Homer Bailey — yes, he still exists. Bailey actually used to be quite good before he needed Tommy John surgery after signing a $100 million contract extension in February 2014. Now? Who knows?
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Dodgers
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Reds
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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9:35 a.m. PT
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Cincinnati
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|||
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2B
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Utley |
CF
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Hamilton | |
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SS
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Seager
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SS
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Peraza | |
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1B
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Gonzalez |
1B
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Votto | |
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C
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Grandal |
LF
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Duvall | |
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CF
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Pederson |
2B
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Phillips | |
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LF
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Kendrick |
RF
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Schebler | |
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RF
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Toles | 3B | Suarez | |
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3B
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Segedin |
C
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Barnhart | |
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P
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Kazmir (L)
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P
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Bailey (R)
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The term “trap game” is used a lot with the NFL, but this is a classic version of that in baseball. The Dodgers are traveling home after today’s game to start a 3-game midweek series against the Giants. It’d be easy for the team to overlook the Reds, but the Dodgers cannot do that — especially since they thoroughly dominated the Dodgers in two of the first three games of the series.
The Dodgers are sending out most of the “A” squad, with Josh Reddick and Justin Turner not in the lineup. Reddick has a jammed finger, while Turner is just getting a day off before a huge 3-game series against the Giants. Reddick will probably get another day off tomorrow, as the Dodgers face Madison Bumgarner. Might be good for him to clear his head a bit (oh, and for his jammed finger to heal).
Also, Joc Pederson has just one hit in his last four games — or, you know, since I wrote that article about him last week. Sigh.
What’s great is that Corey Seager, Turner, Adrian Gonzalez and Yasmani Grandal are all hitting — and hitting well. There might not be a better 2-5 in baseball at the moment, as all four hitters are carrying the offense. But with Turner resting, Grandal and Pederson move up into the Nos. 4 and 5 spots.
Here’s the latest on the news front…
Ross Stripling has joined #Dodgers in Cincinnati. Not activated yet. LAD might need a starter Thursday
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 22, 2016
Musical starting pitchers continue. This time, it’s the Ross Stripling edition if the Brett Anderson edition is truly (still) broken.
#Dodgers Brett Anderson playing catch now to test blister on his index finger
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 22, 2016
We’ll see…
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