Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Let’s get it out there and move on: Don Mattingly stands by his decision to not pinch-run for A.J. Ellis at second base in Wednesday’s extra inning game, mostly because he didn’t want to be left without a backup catcher. (If something had happened to Drew Butera, it sounds like the domino effect would have had Justin Turner at catcher, Matt Kemp at second, and Clayton Kershaw in right, which would be awesome.) Except, then he did run for Ellis at third with Erisbel Arruebarrena, and… forget it. I can’t even parse this anymore. I know a lot of other managers would do it too. It doesn’t make it better.
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D’Backs
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Dodgers
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7:10 p.m.
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Los Angeles, Ca.
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CF
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Inciarte
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CF
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Puig
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2B
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Owings
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SS
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Ramirez
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RF
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Peralta
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1B
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Gonzalez
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1B
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Trumbo
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RF
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Kemp
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C
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Montero
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LF
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Van Slyke
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CF
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Pollock
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2B
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Turner
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3B
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Lamb
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3B
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Uribe
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SS
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Gregorius
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C
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Ellis
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P
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Nuno (L)
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P
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Haren (R)
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To some news items:
* Arruebarrena still hasn’t swung a bat since somehow injuring his right shoulder and will “try throwing today,” per J.P. Hoornstra, which means we probably shouldn’t expect to see him at shortstop.
* Josh Beckett confirms he’s out for the season, but hasn’t yet decided on whether he’ll retire or come back, per Pedro Moura. If he does, he’ll be a free agent. Ken Gurnick adds that Beckett will have hip surgery either way.
* Paco Rodriguez was supposed to throw a simulated game, per Dylan Hernandez, but it didn’t happen when he felt sore after throwing earlier this week. He doesn’t have a lot of time to make it back; somewhat unbelievably, the Dodgers have 10 active relievers, and only one, J.P. Howell, is a lefty.
* This weekend’s rotation has been changed, with Hyun-jin Ryu starting Saturday and Zack Greinke Sunday. After some initial worry that Greinke’s elbow was acting up, it was revealed that the change was made so that Greinke would pitch in between lefties Ryu and Clayton Kershaw next weekend against the Giants.
* Carlos Triunfel, DFA’d earlier this week to get Joc Pederson onto the 40-man roster, has cleared waivers and been assigned to Triple-A, also from Gurnick. It’s merely a paper move, because the Albuquerque season is over, and he isn’t likely to be seen again.
So! After all that, there’s a game tonight, and it features Justin Turner playing second base instead of Dee Gordon, partially because Turner has been so much better than Gordon lately, but also because lefty Vidal Nuno is on the mound. Dan Haren, believe it or not, has been pretty decent over his last few starts. With San Francisco currently holding a 6-0 lead in rain-delayed Detroit — thanks for nothing, Rick Porcello — he’ll need to be.
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