Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (92-48) will try to even up the series against the Rockies (75-65) and snap their seven-game losing streak on Friday night at Dodger Stadium. The D-backs (82-58) have won 13 straight games, closing the gap in L.A’s lead in the NL West to 10 games. Zack Greinke is on the mound for Arizona when they open a series against the Padres on Friday, putting the pressure on Yu Darvish and the Dodgers to preserve the double-digit lead in the division. The good news is the Dodgers’ arguably most valuable player, Corey Seager, will return to the starting lineup tonight.
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Rockies
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Dodgers
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7:10 PM PT
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Los Angeles
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CF
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Blackmon |
LF
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Granderson | |
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2B
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LeMahieu |
SS
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Seager | |
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RF
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Gonzalez |
3B
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Turner | |
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3B
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Arenado |
1B
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Bellinger | |
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LF
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Parra |
RF
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Puig | |
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1B
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Desmond |
CF
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Pederson | |
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SS
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Amarista | C | Barnes | |
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C
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Lucroy |
2B
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Forsythe | |
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P
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Marquez (R) |
P
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Darvish (R) |
The Dodgers will have their work cut out for them, because the Rockies are playing with purpose. They’re currently three games ahead of the Brewers and Cardinals for the second NL Wild Card.
Still looking for his first home win with the Dodgers, Darvish (8-11, 4.09 ERA, 4.08 FIP) hasn’t been able to repeat his stellar L.A. debut when he pitched seven shutout innings on August 4 in New York. He’s been working on his mechanics since, but the results haven’t been there yet. Last time out against the Padres, Darvish only lasted three innings and allowed five runs on eight hits with three walks and five strikeouts on 88 pitches in the loss. He’s never faced the Rockies in his career.
The Dodgers need Darvish to give them a solid start to alleviate some of the workload on the bullpen, who had to put in 5 1/3 innings of work on Thursday after Clayton Kershaw was roughed up early by the Rox and lasted only 3 2/3 innings.
German Marquez (10-6, 4.26 ERA, 4.13) makes his 25th start of the season for Colorado. The 22-year old right-hander has also never pitched against the Dodgers in his young career. Curtis Granderson is the only current Dodger with any at-bats against Marquez (1-for-1 with two walks). Last time out against the D-backs, Marquez allowed four runs and struck out nine in six innings, but was tagged with a loss.
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Seager is finally back in the starting lineup. He’s batting second and at shortstop, his first start since August 27. Seager’s had five at-bats as a pinch-hitter while he was dealing with some elbow inflammation, but has collected only one hit in that span. Although Seager’s absence has had perceptible effects on the Dodgers’ offense, the Dodgers as a whole have been struggling. They’ve only scored three runs collectively over the last four games and have allowed 28 runs in that same span to the D-backs and Rockies.
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Adam Liberatore and Franklin Gutierrez are done for the year.
Both Adam Liberatore and Franklin Gutierrez are done for the season, Dave Roberts said
— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) September 8, 2017
So you’re saying there’s a chance?
Roberts said there is a chance both McCarthy & Kazmir could pitch in majors this season. Both on 60-day DL
— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) September 8, 2017
Brandon McCarthy will pitch about five innings tonight for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. They’re currently in the first round of the California League playoffs. The South Division Finals, a best-of-five series, is tied 1-1 with the Lancaster JetHawks (Colorado Rockies affiliate) as their opponents.
Scott Kazmir will pitch three innings in relief on Saturday for the Quakes. While BMac may have an outside chance of earning a playoff roster spot, Dave Roberts said Kazmir will not be on the postseason roster.
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Finally, here’s the scenarios for a postseason berth clinch for the Dodgers on Saturday:
From MLB, here’s the clinch scenarios for the #Dodgers.
There’s three, but the simplest is if the Dodgers win tonight and tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/pYZwfw4nOV
— Joshua Thornton (@JoshuaThornton_) September 8, 2017
It’s great to have Seager back in the lineup, but the rest of the team needs to step up and get the job done as well. Chad outlined some of the valid concerns we should have about the team. These are all legitimate issues that need to be sorted out before October, but they mainly need to just play better.
Make baseball fun again, guys.
