Lefty Aces Square Off at Dodger Stadium in Game One

Dodger Lineup vs. White Sox

Gordon 6

Herrera 7

Rivera 3

Ethier 9

Hairston 4

Ellis 2

Uribe 5

Gwynn 8

Kershaw 1

Chris Sale-8-2 vs. Clayton Kershaw-5-3

The Dodgers continue their slog of interleague games with a three game set against the Chicago White Sox, to end a six game homestand, before the Dodgers go back on the road. We are very familiar with the White Sox, they have been regular interleague foes, but we also share the Camelback Ranch spring training complex with the Pale Hose.

The Dodgers lost two out of three last year in Chicago, but this year, the series moves to Dodger Stadium. Tonight two of the game’s toughest leftys, will face off on the mound in game one. Again with the game at Dodger Stadium, the two teams will use National League rules, so no DH, and the pitchers will hit.

The White Sox have been playing pretty well, and sit atop the heap in the AL Central. The White Sox are 34-29, and 18-11 on the road. They are a game and a half ahead of Cleveland in the AL Central race. Meanwhile the Dodgers still have the best record in Baseball at 40-24, and are in first place in the NL West, with a four game lead over the Giants. The Dodgers have lost six of their last seven home games, which is concerning, but they have won seven of their last ten, thanks to a good road-trip, that saw them sweep the Phillies in four games, so there is some positives to find. Plus the lead is back to four since the Dodgers gained back a half game with the Giants losing to Houston yesterday, so we can breathe a bit easier now.

The Pale Hose will give the ball to young lefty Chris Sale. The 23 year old lefty, was originally a reliever that was moved into the starting rotation. The Lakeland Florida native is quite the flamethrower. Sale has whiffed 76 batters in just 74 innings. Sale has won his last five decisions, and has a 9.2 whiff per nine rate. Overall, Sale is 8-2 with a 2.05 ERA, and has a 209 ERA+. This kid is pitching like a cy young contender. He has never faced the Dodgers though. Adam Kennedy, and Juan Rivera are the only Dodgers to have faced him at all. Each with only one at-bat.

The Dodgers will counter with their own young lefty ace, Clayton Kershaw. The reigning CY Young winner has had a somewhat up and down year. However his numbers this year, appear to match his numbers at this time last year, although with less strikeouts. Kerhaw did whiff 12 batters in his last start In Seattle, while allowing just three runs through seven innings, to pick up the win. Overall Kershaw is 5-3 with a 2.65 ERA, and an 8.3 whiff per nine rate. His walk rate is the same from last year at 2.1, and his hits per nine rate is the exact same from last year as well, at 6.7. He has 81 whiffs, and is 0-1 against the White Sox.

Most of the White Sox have never faced Kershaw, except for two players who seem to give Kersh a bad time. The only two players to have more than a couple of at-bats is the pesky Orlando Hudson. Yes O-dawg was released by the Padres if you remember, and a few weeks back, was signed by the White Sox. Hudson, is 5 for 18 (.278) with a home run, and two RBIs, against Kershaw. The other guy Kershaw has to worry about is the Ogre man, Adam Dunn. Ogre is batting .636 (7 for 11) off of Kershaw, and he has hit three home runs, and driven in seven runs against our Ace. If you remember the ogre hit two home runs in one game, into the lodge section off of Kershaw back in 2010, when he was with Washington. No doubt O-dawg, will try and be a thorn in his paw once again, and caution will be exercised when pitching to Ogre. Needless to say, runs should be at a premium tonight.

Remember Bobby Abreu is fifth all time for most Interleague hits. Game time tonight is 7PM, and the game will be televised on Prime Ticket.

Some sad news to bring you before we sign off. Aaron Miles has called it a career. The plucky infielder, who has made a major league career based on sheer perseverance, has hung up his spikes. Miles who singed a minor league deal with the Dodgers, and was hitting .235 at AAA Albuquerque has decided to retire. We wish Miles all the best in his future endeavors. We’ll never forget his hail Mary RBI triple in St. Louis last season, which helped us sweep the Cardinals on the road.

On that note, I will leave you. Please join us after the game for our nightly postgame recap. This is going to be tough guys. Red Alert! To your interleague battlestations Dodger fans! Go Blue.