Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
You don’t ever want to put too much importance on a single game, especially one in the middle of the season against a team that isn’t even in your division.
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Dodgers
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Pirates
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4:05 p.m. PT
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Pittsburgh, Pa.
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2B
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Gordon
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RF
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Polanco
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SS
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Turner
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LF
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Snyder
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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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Kemp
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2B
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Walker
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CF
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Ethier
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C
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Martin
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LF
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Crawford
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1B
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Davis
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3B
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Uribe
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3B
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Alvarez
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C
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Ellis
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SS
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Mercer
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P
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Beckett (R)
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P
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Worley (R)
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That’s still true tonight. What happens against the Pirates isn’t likely to be remembered in September. But, with the trade deadline barely more than a week today, with the obvious need for the Dodgers to add a starting pitcher, and with Josh Beckett making his first start off the disabled list, you can understand if this one has just a bit more interest than usual. If Beckett’s hip issue doesn’t allow him to get through the game, or if he comes out and looks atrocious doing it, you imagine Ned Colletti gets just a bit more antsy about adding a starter. Again, we shouldn’t let one game dictate too much, but things do get a little sideways headed into the final week of July.
Beckett’s activation came with a demotion for Paco Rodriguez, which should surprise absolutely nobody at all. Rodriguez retired all four batters he faced in his latest stint, but he was clearly the move because of the usual game of options. When Beckett takes the mound, he’ll be backed by the exact same lineup as last night, because both Yasiel Puig and Hanley Ramirez are unavailable again. Don Mattingly says that the team isn’t currently considering a DL stint for either one, which means we’ll be next seeing them in 2015.
That’s a joke, kind of, but this isn’t: Mattingly liked how Matt Kemp looked in right field last night so much that he’s now considering putting Puig there when he’s again able to play. (Why, asked Dylan Hernandez, had Puig not been there before? “Pretty much because he’s out of control,” replied Mattingly. Outstanding.) There’s merit to the idea, and also plenty of merit to never, ever actually doing that. It’s a conversation for another time, though, because it’s not happening tonight, and it might not happen at all.
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