Diamondbacks 3 6 0

WP- Corbin (2-0)

LP- Kershaw (2-1)

S- Putz (2)

After a shocking brawl the night before, the Dodgers headed out to Arizona without their injured ace Zack Greinke. We learned the heartbreaking news Friday afternoon that Greinke would undergo surgery to insert a rod in his collarbone, and he would be out for about eight weeks. There’s been plenty of discussion regarding the incident on Thursday night between Greinke and San Diegan goon Carlos Quentin. Some argue that Greinke incited the big thug and somehow was partly responsible for the melee. While I don’t think Greinke did anything wrong other than to stand his ground and essentially brace for impact, I can’t get past the fact that Quentin seriously injured one of the best pitchers in the game and only got a mere eight-game suspension. Sure, Greinke yelled out an expletive toward the raging bull, but does that justify Quentin’s animalistic attack?

Jerry Hairston Jr. also was suspended for one game, and both Hairston and Quentin are appealing their suspensions. It is unclear whether Quentin will be playing at Dodger Stadium come Monday.

Patrick Cobin gets the win to shut out the Dodgers at Chase Field. Photo: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers, while still angry and reeling from the fight, had to pack up and head to Arizona to take on the always tough D-backs for a three-game set. Clayton Kershaw pitched well other than some trouble in the bottom of the eighth inning when he was tiring. He picked up his 999th career strikeout, yet the Dodger offense fell flat again and couldn’t muster up any runs in the shutout loss.

Mark Ellis sketchily gets hit by a pitch on his foot by lefty Patrick Corbin in the first inning. There’s no mound charging or cussing involved, and Ellis takes first quietly. Adrian Gonzalez strikes out on a big curveball to end the inning.

Clayton Kershaw strikes out two snakes (Gerardo Parra and Paul Goldschmidt) in the bottom half of the first.

Corbin counters with two strikeouts of his own by getting last night’s hero Juan Uribe and Andre Ethier to whiff. A.J. Ellis smacks a double over Parra’s head.  Justin Sellers hits a deep fly ball, but Parra is able to catch up to it this time for the third out.

Kershaw retires the D-backs 1-2-3 in the bottom of the second, and he picks up another K by striking out Miguel Montero.

Mark Ellis singles in the third inning, but the Dodger bats can’t do much else.

Clayton Kershaw is one strikeout away from his 1,000th of his career. Photo: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Kershaw is on a roll, and he strikes out Cliff Pennington and Patrick Corbin in the bottom of the third. A.J. Pollack grounds out to end the frame.

A sole Sellers single rounds out the fourth inning for the Dodgers, but the D-backs strike in the home half of the inning. Pesky Parra and Martin Prado hit back-to-back singles. Goldschmidt hits into a double play allowing Parra to score and plate a run. 1-0 Arizona.

Patrick Corbin ends up pitching 6 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits, striking out 4, and walking 3 on 106 pitches.

Brad Ziegler comes out of the Arizona pen to relieve Corbin for the seventh inning. Clayton Kershaw singles, for the second Dodger hit of the evening, but that is all the “offense” can do.

Kershaw is still going strong into the bottom of the seventh, and he strikes out another two Snakes in the frame (Alfredo Marte and Josh Wilson).

David Hernandez will pitch the eighth inning for the D-backs. The Dodgers squander away another scoring opportunity. Matt Kemp singles with one-out. Adrian Gonzalez draws a walk, and there is a wild pitch which allows Kemp to move to third. Carl Crawford, who was benched even though he is the hottest hitter in the league at the moment, ends up striking out as a pinch-hitter. Andre Ethier grounds into the third out, and the Dodgers strand more runners.

The bottom of the eighth solidifies the win for Arizona. Jason Kubel and A.J. Pollack hit consecutive singles with one out against a tiring Kershaw. Parra walks to load the bases up. For some reason, Don Mattingly brings in freshly called up pitcher Shawn Tolleson. Tolleson was called up today to replace the disabled Greinke. Putting Tolleson into a one-run game in the bottom of the eighth inning with the bases loaded doesn’t seem like the best idea, right? He promptly walks Prado which brings in a run for Arizona. Then another walk to Goldschmidt brings in Arizona’s third run. Tolleson has to be yanked, and the Dodgers bring in lefty J.P. Howell. Howell strikes out Montero, and Marte lines out to end the inning.

Kershaw pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits while striking out 9 and walking 3 on 111 pitches

It really doesn’t matter that Tolleson walked in two runs since the Dodger offense is nonexistent. J.J. Putz comes in to pitch the ninth and close it out for AZ. A.J. Ellis strikes out. Nick Punto singles, and Skip Schumaker walks. We know that this is just too little too late. Jerry Hairston Jr. grounds into a double play to end the game. Is it just me or has JHair looked really bad at the plate ever since Spring Training?

Kershaw picks up the hard-luck loss as the Dodgers drop game one at Chase Field. Tomorrow Hyun-jin Ryu will make his first road start against Arizona’s Ian Kennedy in a 5:10 p.m. game.

Can the Dodger offense wake up? Will the loss of Greinke affect morale? We still have a long season to go.

I’m new to Lasorda’s Lair and as you’ve gathered by now, I’ve chosen to start off my first article by taking a closer look at Dodger starting pitcher Ted Lilly.  Lilly is the forgotten man in the new look rotation.  He’s listed as the #8 starting pitcher on mlb.com.  He hit the DL last May 24 with a left shoulder injury, and despite the rehab assignments, bullpen sessions and talk of a return he ended up going under the knife.  Shoulder injuries can spell death for pitchers.  Then why Lilly you ask?

Lilly, like a lot of lefties, relies not on an overwhelming arsenal but rather pitching smarts and guts.  His surgery was officially described as a “cleanup procedure” and if he did happen to lose a tick or two from his fastball it will not affect him nearly as much most other pitchers. He fits the stereotype of the crafty left in every way.

So how does Ted Lilly do it? He throws his mid to high 80’s fastball about half the time and mixes in a slider, change-up and his signature 70 MPH curveball.   He has excellent control, racks up a decent amount of strikeouts, induces a lot of pop-ups and gets better results than he looks like he should.  Ted Lilly is an above average and undervalued starting pitcher.  He also gives up a lot of home runs, is on the wrong side of 35 and is coming off a “cleanup procedure”.  Ted Lilly is not a star and is not going to anchor the rotation of a team with playoff aspirations.  He’s unexciting and was a boring signing at 3 years, 33 million dollars.  As you remember though, under the old regime that represented one of the larger moves Colletti made.

The hot stove has churned Aaron Harang and Chris Capuano rumors all off-season long.  The most recent whispers have had Harang in talks with San Diego, however; Capuano has understandably drawn more interest and is the more likely candidate to be dealt.  Chad Billingsley opted for a plasma injection instead of Tommy John surgery, which makes him an unknown quantity at this point.  Reports are that he hit 94 in a sim game in November so there is promise, but even if he proves himself in spring he’ll still have to stay healthy during the season.

Lilly will get his starts.  Lilly doesn’t need to be flashy and he will provide solid results, give our boys the chance to win some ball games, and yes, he will serve up the occasional meatball that ends up deep in the left field pavilion.  Ted Lilly will be Ted Lilly, and I for one am glad to have him back.  What about you?

Coming soon… Sign Scott Hairston!