Dodgers Look To Gain Ground On First Place Colorado Tonight

Dodgers Lineup vs. Colorado

Tyler Chatwood-0-0 vs. Ted Lilly-0-0

 (As you can see no Hanley in the lineup tonight. Which means he may make his debut tomorrow. The rest of the lineup looks fine from 1-5, but 6-8 is how should I put this…Ohferlicious? yes that’s about right. Please somebody explain to me Don Mattingly’s fascination with Skip Schumaker? The guy is hitting about .107, so tell me why he is batting sixth behind Ethier and playing second base? otherwise more Cruz and Sellers behind him at the bottom of the lineup. No word on Mark Ellis either. I’m assuming he is still day-to-day at this point.)

Now that the Milwaukee Brewers have been Kershed, the Dodgers can turn their attention in doing the same thing to the Colorado Rockies. On a side note, that’s going to become the new slang. I expect for all the kids to start saying this now. Instead of you just got served! Or you got spanked! Or something like that. All of the kids will start saying you just got Kershed! Do the kids today still say this stuff? I’m not even old, and I am already way out of touch with today’s kid slang. I am a kid of the 80’s so everyone was radical or “bad” meant being cool. Those expressions went out of style with the cabbage patch kids, and Night Rider.

Kershed: To be dominated by your opponent in some kind of sport, game or competition. A one sided game, or affair in which one side or person utterly dominates their opponent. To be Kershed is the same as being spanked, or killed, or ripped. Also see, to be Kershawed.

Can Lilly overcome his rustiness and beat Colorado?-Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Tonight the Dodgers will get their first look at the first place Colorado Rockies. Hard to believe, but it’s true, the Rockies are in first place. Don’t ask me how the hell that has happened. If I could pinpoint the reason, it is that Colorado is scoring a ton of runs. Colorado ranks second in the majors in batting (.279), has hit 32 home runs, and scored 127 runs. In comparison, the Dodgers have scored 80 runs, are batting .248 as a team and have hit 17 home runs. There’s a big difference there. Colorado’s pitching has also improved, which I am assuming is what has made the real difference. Colorado’s pitching staff went from being dreadful to being merely below average. They rank 18 in the majors with a staff ERA of 3.79. The Dodgers rank 12 (3.66 ERA)

Colorado will send right hander Tyler Chatwood to the mound. The Dodgers have seen before a few times. We saw him a lot last year. The former Angel has made four career starts against the Dodgers. He has beat the Dodgers twice in those four starts. He is 2-2 with a 3.86 ERA against the boys in blue. He’s pitched well at Dodger stadium, including a very annoying shut-out last summer if you remember. At Dodger Stadium, Chatwood is 1-1, and has posted a 2.45 ERA, with nine whiffs and five walks in 11 innings of work. The 23 year old right hander has only pitched in one game so far this season. He allowed four runs in six frames and whiffed three during his lone start of 2013. He received a no-decision in that start. The Dodgers have only 37 at-bats against Chatwood, but have hit him well in those AB’s. The Dodgers are hitting .324 (12 for 37) versus Chatwood. Andre Ethier is 4 for 11, and Matt Kemp has hit the only home run.

The Dodgers will counter with lefty Ted Lilly. The veteran crafty left hander has had tremendous success against Colorado. Lilly is 10-2 with a 3.92 ERA in 14 career starts versus Colorado. He has whiffed 75 in 80 innings pitched. Lilly finally recovered from his extreme rustiness, and made his season debut last week in New York against the Mets. He was very impressive last week. And while he did not get the win (he picked up a no-decision) he looked very sharp for a guy just coming off the DL who had hardly pitchd at all this spring. Lilly last week, held the Mets to just one run on six hits through five frames, and whiffed seven. He was very effective, and only walked two. Lilly has held the current Rockies to a .195 (26 for 133) batting average against. The only Rockie to have given Lilly any sort of trouble is of course, Carlos Gonzalez. Cargo is batting .400 (8 for 20), against Lilly with five home runs, and ten RBI. Colorado has hit six home runs off of Lilly, and five of them were hit by Cargo. Michael Cuddyer has hit the other home run. Last time out, Lilly used every trick in the book to fool the Mets hitters. Can he use the same trickery on the Rockies?

Colorado Rockies pitcher Tyler Chatwood (32) pitches in the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Facing the Rockies usually means facing the big three of Cargo, notorious Dodger killer Todd Helton, and Mullet Man Troy Tulowitzki. However both Helton and Mullet are injured. We will not see Helton, who is out with a left forearm strain. It looks like we will also not be seeing Tulowitzki either. Mullet Man hurt his shoulder sliding into home plate in yesterday’s game and will probably be out for at least a few days. So the Dodgers seem to have gotten a break missing two of the three annoyances.

We are also waiting for word on the injury status of second baseman Mark Ellis. Will the Dodgers place him on the DL because of his right quad strain? We’ll have our answer soon. In the meantime, Hanley Ramirez appears ready to return any day now, and Chris Capuano has begun his rehab assignment with Albuquerque, and faces Memphis on Wednesday. Meanwhile Matt Magill remains on the roster with the team, and it appears that a roster decision won’t come tonight on him. With an off-day on Thursday, the Dodgers won’t need a fifth starter until May 7, when Capuano is expected to be back. We should have some answers later tonight.

The Dodgers enter tonight’s series with a record of 12-12, 2.5 games behind Colorado in the NL West race. Colorado is actually tied for first place with Arizona with a 15-10 record.

Tonight’s game time is at 7:10 PM, and televised on Prime Ticket. Join us after the game for another of our unique Dodger recaps. Don’t sleep! Go Blue.