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Dodgers Return Home For Important Series Versus Giants
By Scott Andes
Dodges Lineup vs. Giants-5-8-14
Gordon 2B
Puig RF
Hanley SS
Gonzalez 1B
Kemp CF
Crawford LF
Uribe 3B
Butera C
Beckett P
Ryan Vogelsong-1-1 vs. Josh Beckett-0-1
The Dodgers return home tonight to kick off a seven game home stand. They’ll play a huge four game series against the hated Giants, and then three with the Marlins before going back on the road again.
Tonight is inflatable chair night at Dodger Stadium. Everyone in attendance will get an inflatable plastic Dodger chair.
The Dodgers are also offering five dollar parking in lots 13 and 14. Those lots are located across the street from Stadium way, and adjacent to the fire department training center. This offer is being done on a trial basis, so not sure how long this will last. Check out Thinkbluela for a nice map of the area surrounding Dodger Stadium, so you can plan your trip accordingly. There will also be a free shuttle service running before the game.
Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
This series against the Giants is very important. The Dodgers only went 5-4 on this latest road trip, while the Giants and Rockies won eight out of eleven. This means the 19-16 Dodgers are in third place, behind the Giants and Colorado. The Dodgers need to take three out of four. A split at least is absolutely necessary.
Tonight the Dodgers will give the ball to veteran Josh Beckett. He’ll be countering Ryan Vogelsong who is pitching for the Giants. The Dodgers won’t have to ace Matt Cain in this series. Apparently he cut his finger making a sandwich, and had to be placed on the DL. But the Dodgers will have to face Vogelsong, who will face the Dodgers tonight.
Vogelsong has had a bit of a rough start this year. The 36-year old right hander is 1-1 with a 4.60 ERA in si x starts. He’s given up 31 hits in 29 innings. His walks are up, and strikeouts down. He did beat Atlanta in his last start, tossing six frames of one run ball for the win. He is 4-3 with a 3.97 ERA against the Dodgers. And at Dodger Stadium, he has posted a 2-1 record, with a 4.22 ERA.
The Dodgers are hitting ,275 (39 for 142) against Vogelsong. Dee Gordon is 9 for 23 against Vogelsong, and Matt Kemp is 7 for 23 with three extra base hits.
PA
AB
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
BA
OBP
SLG
27
23
7
1
1
1
6
4
4
.304
.407
.565
24
23
9
0
1
0
1
1
0
.391
.417
.478
21
19
5
2
0
1
1
2
2
.263
.333
.526
19
17
2
0
0
0
3
1
3
.118
.211
.118
16
16
7
1
1
0
1
0
2
.438
.438
.625
11
11
3
1
0
1
4
0
1
.273
.273
.636
9
9
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
.222
.222
.222
9
9
1
0
0
0
1
0
4
.111
.111
.111
5
5
3
2
0
0
2
0
0
.600
.600
1.000
4
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
.000
.000
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
.000
.000
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
.000
.000
.000
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
.000
.500
.000
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
.000
.000
.000
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
.000
.000
.000
Total
153
142
39
7
3
3
19
9
20
.275
.322
.430
For the Dodgers, Beckett has gotten off to a very strong start this year. He is 0-1 but has a 3.14 ERA. He’s whiffed 30 batters in 28 innings, and has walked just nine. That’s a 9.4 whiff per nine rate. Even more impressive is he has given up just 20 hits in those 28 frames.
Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
He lost his last decision against Miami over the weekend, but he pitched a lot better than the end result indicated. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits, in 6.2 innings. But he whiffed eight, and walked just one. Not to mention the bullpen gave away the game. That wasn’t Beckett’s fault. So far he has been great. He’s limiting base runners, throwing strikes, and is still able to get strike guys out.
Against the Giants, Beckett is 4-5 with a 3.43 ERA in ten starts. The current Giants are hitting .268 (22 for 82) with three home runs, and a.355 OBP. The guy to worry about is Hunter Pence. He’s batting .421 (8 for 19) with a home run against Beckett.
PA
AB
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
BA
OBP
SLG
19
19
8
0
0
1
2
0
4
.421
.421
.579
14
13
2
0
0
0
2
1
3
.154
.214
.154
9
6
1
0
0
0
0
3
2
.167
.444
.167
9
8
1
0
0
1
2
1
0
.125
.222
.500
8
7
3
0
0
1
1
0
1
.429
.500
.857
7
6
2
1
0
0
0
1
1
.333
.429
.500
6
5
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
.200
.333
.200
6
3
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
.000
.250
.000
6
6
2
0
0
0
0
0
2
.333
.333
.333
5
4
1
0
0
0
0
1
2
.250
.400
.250
2
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
.500
.500
.500
2
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
.000
.500
.000
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
.000
.000
.000
Total
95
82
22
1
0
3
8
10
18
.268
.355
.390
Here are the rest of the pitching match-ups for the Giants series. Friday night Madison Bumgarner-(3-3 3.18) vs. Paul Maholm (1-2 4.70) in a battle of left handers. Saturday night is still undecided for the Giants, but the Dodgers will be giving the ball to Zack Greinke (5-1 2.35). And the finale on Sunday afternoon will see Tim Hudson (4-2 1.99) battling Clayton Kershaw (2-0 0.66)
Thankfully we return to normal weather and start times tonight. Enjoy the normalcy guys. And if the club does lose, well then I guess we can’t blame it on the rain. We’ll just have to blame it on good ol’ fashioned crappy play. Hopefully the Dodgers will win, and then this topic becomes moot.
Oh and one more thing, Apparently A.J. will be taking over the Dodger twitter account during the game tonight. Now this is bound to be fun!
During tonight's game, professional catcher and tweeter, @AJEllis17 will take over @Dodgers: pic.twitter.com/1NIENzsimV
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 8, 2014
Game time – 7:10 PM
Go Blue!