Dodgers Try To Even Series Behind Veteran Lilly (Spoiler Alert, They Won’t)

Dodgers Lineup vs. Cardinals

John Gast-2-0 vs. Ted Lilly-0-1

Last night the Dodgers were manhandled by a clearly superior team. The Cardinals destroyed the Dodgers 7-0, in the first game of this three game series. The Dodgers managed only two hits off of Lance Lynn and three hits overall during the game. This was nothing new to me. The Cardinals are a championship caliber team, and the Dodgers are in last place for a reason. I fully expect the Dodgers to be easily swept by the Red birds this weekend.

Lilly will try and not hit the DL immediately after the game-Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The Cardinals will send rookie John Gast to the mound to try and take the series. Gast is a 24 year old left hander from Florida. He was originally drafted by the Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2010 draft. He’s only made two major league starts this year, and has won both of them. He is 2-0 with a 4.76 ERA. He’s allowed six runs on ten hits, walked three, and whiffed eight in eleven innings of work. Gast had a career 3.55 ERA in the minors, and was 31-16 overall. That’s about all I know about the young left hander.

The Dodgers will counter with left handed veteran Ted Lilly. Lilly is coming back from the disabled list, yet again, and I expect him to be just as terrible as he has been this season. Lilly had one good start in New York, before succumbing to more rustiness. He had one very bad start against Colorado and then landed right back on the disabled list . Honestly I can’t even remember which area was bothering Lilly last time. Normally it’s either his back, neck, or rusty shoulder. I believe it was a rib cage strain this time. Something new. All that matters is he is extremely rusty. When he is healthy he can be an effective pitcher, but if he is experiencing any sort of rustiness then he should not be allowed to pitch.

Lilly has only pitched in two games this season. He is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA. He has allowed 14 hits, and six runs in eight innings pitched. He has four walks, and nine whiffs thus far in 2013. Lilly has pitched very well against the Cardinals though, so we may have an outside shot to win tonight. Lilly is 7-3 with a 2.55 ERA in 15 games versus the Cardinals. He has whiffed 72 and walked only 23 in 105 innings against the Red Birds. How has the current Cardinals hit against him? Well, not good actually. The Cardinals seem to struggle against Lilly. The veteran has held the Cardinals to a .198 average against (17 for 86), but the Cards have hit six home runs, and driven in ten runs. Yadier Molina is hitting just .176 (6 for 34) but with two home runs. Carlos Beltran is (.286) 4 for 14 with two home runs. Ty Wigginton has hit two home runs, and Matt Holliday has hit one long ball versus Lilly.

This is John Gast-Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

As the Dodgers try and even the series, let’s hope that A.J. Ellis is feeling ok, and there are no ill-effects from last night’s collision at home plate with Jon Jay. A.J. is very tough though, and I expect for him to play tonight. (I hope)

Before I sign off, I want to create a little comparison. This is to give everyone a little visual representation of how much the Dodgers suck this season, compared to competitive teams like the Cardinals.

The differences between the Dodgers and the Cardinals are so large, it’s almost unfathomable. A huge difference is how each team hits with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers are batting .228 (86 for 377). That ranks the Dodgers 25^th out of the 30 teams. The Cardinals however are the leading team in all of Baseball in hitting with runners in scoring position. The Cardinals are batting .339 (132 for 389) with RISP. They are the number one team in bringing those runners home. When the Cardinals get men in scoring position, they get them in. It’s easy to see why the Cardinals are in first place, and the Dodgers are perpetually bad.

Anyways, try to enjoy the game. Although to be honest, most of these games are not enjoyable to watch. Tonight’s match is on at 4:15 PM, and televised on FOX. So the entire world will be able to see just how much the Dodgers suck. What does suck though, is that we can’t listen to Vin. I don’t know about you, but I’ll be muting my television set tonight. Don’t forget we’ll have the postgame recap immediately following the game. Go Blue.