Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (55-29) enter today with a 2.5-game lead over the second-place Diamondbacks (52-31). Needless to say, this three-game series is important — perhaps one of the most important Dodgers/D’backs series in several years.
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D’Backs
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Dodgers
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6:10 p.m.
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Los Angeles
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CF
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Pollock |
2B
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Forsythe | |
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RF
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Peralta |
SS
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Seager | |
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1B
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Goldschmidt |
3B
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Turner | |
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SS
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Owings |
1B
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Bellinger | |
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2B
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Drury |
LF
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Taylor | |
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C
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Iannetta |
CF
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Hernández | |
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LF
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Descalso | C | Grandal | |
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3B
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Marte |
RF
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Puig | |
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P
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Corbin (L) |
P
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Kershaw (L) |
This is the third time Los Angeles and Arizona have faced off this year. They split a four-game series in L.A. in early April, and the D’backs took two of three when the Dodgers visited Phoenix later that month.
Today, Clayton Kershaw (2.32 ERA, 3.24 FIP, 2.66 DRA) gets the ball for the Dodgers. It will be his second time facing the Diamondbacks this year, the first time being when he outdueled Zack Greinke at Chavez Ravine. Kershaw has had what would be considered a good season by just about any standards so far, but his previous two starts had him looking much more like his old, dominant self.
It’s worth noting that, throughout his career, Kershaw has been better in the second half than he has in the first half. It’s also worth noting that July has, historically, been Kershaw’s best month. Batters are hitting just .197/.250/.262 against him in July, and his ERA for the month is 1.78 (well below his already low career ERA of 2.36).
Patrick Corbin (4.76 ERA, 4.47 FIP, 5.87 DRA) is on the hill for the D’backs. It’s his second start against the Dodgers in 2017. On April 15, Corbin allowed five runs (three earned) in six innings in a game the Dodgers eventually won. Overall, Corbin’s struggled this year, and he hasn’t really looked like himself since he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2014.
A.J. Pollock was reinstated from the disabled list today after going down in mid-May with a right groin strain. Prior to his injury, Pollock was batting .299/.337/.455. He’s hitting leadoff tonight.
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Hyun-Jin Ryu has been placed on the 10-day disabled list, and Ross Stripling is back:
.@HyunJinRyu99 x-rays were negative but he still has soreness. 10-day DL. @RossStripling is activated.
— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) July 4, 2017
This will lead to some rotation shuffling. Kenta Maeda will start Friday, and Brandon McCarthy will be activated to start Saturday:
Simulated game went well Monday in Rancho Cucamonga. #Dodgers will activate Brandon McCarthy from DL and start him Saturday vs KC
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) July 4, 2017
Finally, if you feel so inclined, you still have time to vote for Justin Turner in the All-Star Game final vote:
We're up and running at #VoteJT Headquarters! https://t.co/HAWkr2ykIV pic.twitter.com/jJLjmQq4gN
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 4, 2017
Look, the team even got #VoteJT t-shirts made:
https://twitter.com/Dodgers/status/882381685630812160
If you don’t care (or if Kenley Jansen‘s comments put you off), that’s cool. Just a reminder for anyone who does.
