Hoping Wednesday Fares Better for the Dodgers

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So, we as fans entered into a legally binding agreement to never speak of Tuesday night’s game again, right?

The Dodgers are hoping they fare better in game two of their three-game series in Philly. After a rough 6-2 loss on Tuesday, the Dodgers (60-46) will send Brett Anderson to the hill against the Phillies (42-65) and old friend Chris Griff- I mean Aaron Harang.

Don’t let the Phillies record, which is the worst in baseball by a decent margin, lure you into a false sense of security. They’re 12-3 since the all-star break and have won eight of their last 10. Harang, who started 31 games for the Dodgers in 2012, will make his 19th start of the season for the Phils. He has a not super awful 3.97 ERA (4.01 FIP), but has only gone five innings in each of his last two starts and hasn’t gone more than six innings since May 14.

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Much like Jerome Williams last night, the Dodgers SHOULD be able to beat up on Harang. Unlike Williams, the Dodgers have had success in the past against Harang. Current Dodgers are slashing .326/.379/.504 in 155 career plate appearances against Harang. In #ssss (super small sample sizes), Adrian Gonzalez, Yasiel Puig, Alberto Callaspo, Scott Van Slyke and Carl Crawford are all hitting over .300 against Harang, and Gonzalez has three home runs in 25 plate appearances against him.

Anderson survived the Dodgers rotation rejuvenation and I guess is now their fifth starter? He’s definitely earned his $10 million dollar contract, as he’s already started his most games since his rookie season. He has a 3.14 ERA (3.66 FIP) in 117 2/3 innings and has thrown seven innings three times in his last five starts. He’s never pitched at Citizens Bank, but lost against the Phillies on June 7 when he gave up three earned runs in five innings.

A.J. Ellis is making his first start since returning from the DL. With a day game tomorrow, Yasmani Grandal will likely get the day off tonight.

Callaspo will be making his 19th start at third with the Dodgers. Alex Guerrero got the start last night and looked completely lost at the plate. It’s tough to get into rhythm when you’re not getting consistent at bats, but it’s hard to get consistent at-bats when a team that puts a premium on defense doesn’t think you can play defense.

Joc Pederson is up to sixth in the lineup, which probably has more to do with Ellis and Callaspo being in the lineup than anything else. He looked better at the plate last night, walking three times in four at bats (and striking out once). Despite a .222 batting average, Joc still has a .349 OBP, which is only a point lower than Dee Gordon and his .328 batting average.