Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers go for the series win today in Game 3 of this 4-game set in Colorado, and do so with Dan Haren on the hill.
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Dodgers
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Rockies
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1:10 p.m. PT
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Denver, Colo.
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RF
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Puig
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SS
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Rutledge
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SS
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Ramirez
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LF
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Dickerson
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1B
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Gonzalez
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3B
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Arenado
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LF
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Kemp
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1B
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Morneau
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3B
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Uribe
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C
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Rosario
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CF
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Ethier
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CF
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Stubbs
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C
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Ellis
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RF
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Barnes
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2B
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Rojas
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2B
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Culberson
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P
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Haren (R)
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P
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De La Rosa (L)
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Haren is coming off his best start of the season on Monday, when he held Cleveland to one hit over seven innings of work. It’d be foolish to expect that kind of performance again from him, but let’s just hope he keeps the Dodgers in the game.
Here’s something you don’t see everyday: Scott Van Slyke isn’t starting against a left-handed pitcher, while Andre Ethier is. Seriously.
Well, as many folks pointed out to me on Twitter, Van Slyke is 0-for-12 in his career against Rockies’ starter Jorge De La Rosa. At least there’s some basis for questionable benching. Still, he is the destroyer of lefties (.281/.438/.702) and is proving to be quite the useful mammal these days.
Ethier finally appears to be headed in the right direction. Since June 24, he’s hitting .364/.400/.636 with five of his 12 hits going for extra bases. He’s raised his season average to .260 for the first time since May 31 (.263). If he could get rolling, that would benefit the Dodgers. He’s still struggling against lefties, though (.211/.268/.263).
Dee Gordon is getting the day off against the lefty, and deservedly so. Gordon is hitting .391/.468/.522 since June 16 with an impressive 10:14 walk-to-strikeout ratio.
This will also be Hanley Ramirez‘s final start this week, as Sunday is a planned off-day for him. I’d expect Erisbel Arruebarrena to start in his place.
I wouldn’t expect the Dodgers to hold the Rockies’ offense down as much today as they have in the first two games of this series (two runs total), but the lineup has the ability to contend with the Colorado offense in the hitter-friendly confines of Coors Field.
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Carl Crawford begins his rehab assignment in Albuquerque tonight. Dylan Hernandez reported Crawford will play six innings.
Scott Elbert‘s rehab was shut down because of a toe issue. For a guy coming off three arm surgeries, a bum toe seems like the least of his worries.
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