Brief Road Trip Sends Dodgers to the Snake Pit

Chris Capuano (5-1, 2.34) vs. Patrick Corbin (2-2, 5.74)

Lineup:

Gwynn CF

Herrera 3B

Ethier RF

Van Slyke 1B

Sands LF

DeJesus 2B

Treanor C

Sellers SS

Capuano P

Against all odds the Dodgers swept a three-game series with the first place St. Louis Cardinals. Chalk full of rookies and B-team players, the face of the team is much different than it was on Opening Day. There soon will be help coming though. Jerry Hairston Jr. will be rehabbing in Arizona on Monday and Tuesday, and on Wednesday he will rejoin his teammates at Chase Field for the final game of the series with the D-backs.

Last week the Dodgers and D-backs split a brief two-game series at Dodger Stadium. Kirk Gibson’s NL West Champion team will try to strike, but they have a lot of ground to make up. Going into tonight’s game, the D-backs are 19-23 and sit in third place 9 1/2 games behind the Dodgers.

Chris Capuano will try to bounce back from his first season loss which was at the hands of the San Diego Padres last Wednesday.

Cappy has pitched very well nonetheless, and he has not surrendered more than 3 runs in any of his starts this season with the Dodgers. In his career against the D-backs, Capuano is 1-4 with a 4.14 ERA. Much of the Arizona lineup has given Cappy a hard time in the few at bats they’ve had against him. Justin Upton and Miguel Montero both have homeruns against Chris. In 2011, Cappy made one start against Arizona. He allowed 4 runs in 6 innings in a loss.

The D-backs will counter with their own left-hander-Patrick Corbin. The rookie pitcher has had ups and downs during this his first season in the Majors. Last time out he was roughed up by the Colorado Rockies. He allowed 6 runs in just 6 innings to the Denver Divas. Corbin has never faced the Dodgers. The young 22-year old southpaw was a top ranked prospect in the D-backs minor league system.

I forgot to mention last night that A.J. Ellis‘s streak reaching base of 28 consecutive games was snapped last night. Tis ok, A.J. Right now the Dodgers are a ragtag group of minor leaguers, has-beens (Adam Kennedy I’m talking about you), and mediocre utility players. Every night someone unexpected comes up with a heroic night to help the team conquer the opposition. The rest of the division is getting worried. Although there is still many games to be played, the NL West should be concerned. The Dodgers are pulling away early, and they’ll have flex at the trade deadline to push their momentum down the stretch.

This afternoon it was announced that Clayton Kershaw was named the NL Player of the Week. Kersh went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, 10 strikeouts, 3 walks, 10 hits allowed in 16 innings pitched during his two outings. His last performace featured a 6-0 complete game shutout against the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.

The 6:40 pm game will be televised on Prime Ticket. Stay tuned for our postgame recap, and please let us know what you think about the game in our comments section.