Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The last four games of Dodger baseball have sucked. It would be great if that streak of suck ended tonight. Or at least, don’t let the game end the same way it has four days in a row.
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Giants
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Dodgers
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7:10 PM
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Los Angeles
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RF
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McCutchen |
2B
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Dozier | |
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2B
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d’Arnaud |
3B
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Turner | |
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1B
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Posey |
SS
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Machado | |
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3B
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Longoria |
CF
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Hernandez | |
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C
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Hundley |
LF
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Kemp | |
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LF
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Slater |
1B
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Bellinger | |
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CF
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Duggar | C | Grandal | |
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SS
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Hanson |
RF
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Puig | |
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P
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Suarez (L)
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P
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Wood (L)
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Alex Wood is off the disabled list to make his first start since Aug. 3 against the Astros (6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 4 K). John Axford was placed on the DL to make room for Wood on the active roster. Wood has decent career numbers against the Giants (4.22 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 21.1 K%), so here’s hoping for a solid outing from him. I still think he’d be a nice fit in this iteration of the Dodger bullpen, but they are committed to him as a starter, which is fine.
Brian Dozier is leading off, so it seems his abnormal EKG wasn’t much to be concerned about.
Brian Dozier said he felt dizzy for a couple innings last night. That’s it. He’s been fine since. Thinks it might have been caused by a cetirizine pill. Zyrtec got a lot of free brand exposure at his locker today.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) August 14, 2018
#ShouldOf gone with Claritin.
Now look, I know lineup order — on the whole — doesn’t matter much and Enrique Hernandez is good against left-handed pitching … wait, you mean he isn’t? Hernandez has an 83 wRC+ against lefties coming into the game (105 vs. RHP). He has regressed mightily against southpaws, which was supposed to be his calling card. And while 1-year platoon splits aren’t the largest of sample sizes, it might be time to maybe not bat him cleanup against them.
Matt Kemp is back in the lineup after an off day. He’s been struggling himself against all pitching of late. We knew he was going to regress, but he has seen his triple slash line dip to .282/.329/.477 with a 117 wRC+. It sucks, but he gave us some good memories. It might be time for a certain top prospect to take his spot in the every day lineup (spoiler alert: it won’t happen).
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Here’s your Julio Urias update.
Julio Urías will pitch two innings tomorrow in Rancho Cucamonga and face one more batter in the third inning.
— J.P. Hoornstra (@jphoornstra) August 14, 2018
Huzzah!
Ross Stripling is dealing with some muscle soreness in his back. May not be available tonight, same as Kenta Maeda.
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 14, 2018
Oh, that’s … not great. Kenta Maeda is supposed to be available tomorrow, but Ross Stripling was slated to pitch in relief tonight. Guess that isn’t happening.
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The Los Angeles Times is getting another writer to help cover the Dodgers.
Excited to share I'm joining the @latimes to cover the Dodgers starting next month. https://t.co/tq2P4ZEs6q
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) August 14, 2018
Jorge Castillo is a good one. But this obviously means…
Andy McCullough is going to The Athletic to join Pedro Moura so they can revive Sportwriters Blues, huh?
— Dustin Nosler (@DustinNosler) August 14, 2018
Not really, but would it really surprise anyone?
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Bottom line is, this team needs to stop losing period, but especially in such gut-wrenching fashion. Hopefully that happens tonight.
