Dodgers Bench Jerry Sands in Favor of Jay Gibbons vs. Giants Tonight

When the Dodgers shockingly called up Jerry Sands in mid-April, manager Don Mattingly made it clear Sands was being called up to L.A. to play regularly:

"“We’re going to play him,” Mattingly said. “I don’t think we can bring him up and not play him. That is the thing you have to do with young guys. He is going to get a shot.”"

I guess we have to start not taking Mattingly at his word now too?

For the third time in the last four games Jerry Sands will be on the bench, tonight taking a back seat to Jay Gibbons who just 2 days ago Mattingly said:

"I’m still not 100% satisfied he’s really seeing the ball good"

Okay so what is it? Sands is going to play and your not going to “bring him up and not play him?” Or are you suddenly sure that Gibbons is now “seeing the ball good?” The only reason I can imagine that Gibbons is in the lineup is that even though he has just one hit in six at-bats against Matt Cain, that one hit was a home run.

If Mattingly is now going to go with a platoon of Gibbons and Sands then I think Sands should be sent back down to AAA and they can waste Jamie Hoffman on the bench. Gibbons seemingly would get the majority of at-bats as the Dodgers would see more left handed pitching than right.

No doubt the Dodgers are walking a fine line with their prized power hitting prospect who was playing in Low A ball last year at this time. They have heaped a large amount of pressure on his broad shoulders, and he has struggled making consistent contact. He did have a nice at-bat in the bottom of the 8th inning last night when he drilled a double to the right field gap to give the Dodgers an insurance run en route to their 3 to 0 win.

My point being they are not doing young Jerry any favors by platooning him, especially for Jay Gibbons, at least Tony Gwynn is a great defender and brings some speed when he gets on base. Gwynn’s problem has been that he can’t get on base.

The Giants make their first appearance at Dodger Stadium since opening weekend, when Giants fan Brian Stow was brutally attacked in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. After recently being transfered to a hospital closer to home Stowe opened his eyes today for the first time. This is great news for Brian and his family, however he remains in critical condition. He has also been weaned off of one of his five anti-seizure medications, and has shown ZERO seizure activity during the last 30 hours of continual monitoring.

Meanwhile the Dodgers have increased the reward for information leading to the apprehension of the subjects in the incident to $100,000. The total reward amount is now at $200,000 combining pledges from the Dodgers, Giants, L.A. City Council, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich and American Medical Response, Stow’s employer.

Let’s hope the suspects are found and that a Dodger fan so upset after the game from having to pay good money to watch Jay Gibbons play tonight doesn’t do anything stupid. One thing is for sure, if the Dodgers want to get back to .500 and get closer to first place they need to take care of business at home against their division rivals.

The only questions is, will their offense allow them to do so? Or will Clayton Kershaw extend his scoreless innings streak against the Giants, which currently sits at 22 and two-third innings, only to see the bullpen blow it late and have the Dodgers lose because they can’t score off of Matt Cain, we shall see.

The Dodgers lineup tonight will be:

1. Jamey Carroll SS

2. Aaron Miles 2B

3. Andre Ethier RF

4. Matt Kemp CF

5. Juan Uribe 3B

6. James Loney 1B

7. Jay Gibbons LF

8. Rod Barajas C

9. Clayton Kershaw

Stay tuned for a post game recap tonight and follow Lasorda’s Lair on Twitter by Clicking Here