Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The last few days have been so much fun around Dodger-land — Roberto Hernandez! Kevin Correia, who might start tomorrow! — that it’s easy to forget that if they don’t win today’s series finale in Milwaukee, they’ll limp out of Wisconsin having been swept by a potential playoff opponent. (Colt Hynes, by the way, was DFA’d to make room for Correia on the 40-man roster.)
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Dodgers
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Brewers
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11:10 a.m. PT
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Milwaukee, Wi.
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2B
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Gordon
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CF
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Gomez
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LF
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Crawford
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C
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Lucroy
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1B
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Gonzalez
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RF
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Braun
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RF
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Kemp
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3B
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Ramirez
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CF
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Ethier
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LF
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Davis
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3B
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Uribe
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2B
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Weeks
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C
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Ellis
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1B
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Reynolds
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SS
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Rojas
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C
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Segura
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P
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Kershaw (L)
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P
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Nelson (R)
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Fortunately, they’ll have Clayton Kershaw on the mound to help prevent that. What the team won’t have today, and won’t have for several weeks at the very least, is Hanley Ramirez, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list with an oblique injury. Though he’ll be eligible to return on August 24, if this is anything like past oblique issues, it seems certain that we won’t see him again until September. (Don Mattingly says he thought Ramirez could be ready in “10 days.” We all know he lies about injuries. Ramirez might be in a full-body cast for all we know.)
Darwin Barney, acquired from the Cubs on July 28, has been promoted from Triple-A to take his place. Barney, a long-time second baseman, played in nine games for Albuquerque; six were at short, and three were at third, in case you were wondering what he’s expected to do.
Why Barney and not Erisbel Arruebarrena or Alex Guerrero, you might ask? It’s simple, even beyond the “veterans over youth!” chant that may or may not be true but that fans love to yell about. Guerrero, no matter how much people want to believe otherwise, is not really an option at shortstop. (In 14 games since returning to the Isotopes, he’s played almost exclusively second and left.) Arruebarrena is, of course; he’s also been in six different places since the start of July (ABQ->LA->Rookie League->ABQ->Rancho->ABQ) and it’s fair to wonder if his role in the brawl that earned him a suspension has hurt his standing in the organization.
Anyway, it’s fun to play the minutiae of roster games, but today Miguel Rojas gets the start at short, Yasiel Puig gets a day off, and Andre Ethier gets his first start in center — and just third overall — since July 22. Kershaw faces rookie Jimmy Nelson. It’d be great to get out of town with a victory; fortunately, the Giants, losers of three in a row, haven’t been able to take advantage and remain 3.5 back.
Programming note: the game will be on TBS and should not be blacked out in Los Angeles.
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