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After missing nearly five games with a strained right calf, Manny Ramirez was placed on the disabled list, per the Dodgers via Twitter:
#Dodgers place Manny Ramirez on the DL and reinstate Brad Ausmus from the DL
In a somewhat surprising move, the Dodgers will now, at least temporarily, carry three catchers, as Ausmus was activated from the 60-day disabled list.
The Ramirez injury is worse than originally feared, reports Evan Drellich of MLB.com:
Joe Torre calls strain "significant." Said it would be 3 weeks out for Manny Ramirez.
Here are the lineups for tonight’s game:
Giants
Torres CF
Sanchez 2B
Posey C
Burrell LF
Sandoval 1B
Uribe 3B
Renteria SS
Rowand CF
Lincecum P
Dodgers
Furcal SS
Paul LF
Ethier RF
Loney 1B
Kemp CF
DeWitt 2B
Blake 3B
Martin C
Kershaw P
The Dodgers are looking to upgrade their starting pitching with Paul Maholm of the Pirates, writes Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
The Los Angeles Dodgers are interested in Pirates starter Paul Maholm, an industry source outside the team said this afternoon.
There has been no indication from the Pirates that Maholm or any player is on the trading block, though they have acknowledged that they will listen to offers.
The left-handed Maholm is 6-7 with a 4.03 ERA this season, although he is averaging a career-low 4.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He is under contract through next season, with a club option for 2012, per Cot’s Contracts:
2010: $4.5 million
2011: $5.75 million
2012: $9.75 million option, with a buyout of $750,000
If Maholm is acquired on July 31, he would be owed roughly $1.57 million through the remainder of this season.
(Sports Network) - Los Angeles Dodgers young starter Clayton Kershaw has never reached double digits in wins and will get a chance tonight against the NL West-rival San Francisco Giants in the continuation of a three-game series from Chavez Ravine.
Kershaw has already won a career-best nine games this season (9-5) and was 5-1 in his previous six decisions before losing to St. Louis last Thursday. In the 7-1 setback at Busch Stadium, Kershaw was reached for five runs -- four earned -- and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.
The left-hander slightly raised his earned run average from 2.96 to 3.16 in his 19th start of the year. Kershaw, who is 5-2 in 10 home starts this season, faced San Francisco back on April 18 and did not figure into the decision of a 2-1 win. He hurled seven innings of one-run ball, struck out nine batters and allowed four walks. In three career games (2 starts) against the Giants, Kershaw is 0-0 with a 1.20 earned run average.
Kershaw is an up-and-coming hurler, but if he wants to win 10 or more games on a consistent basis, he'll just have look across the field at Giants ace Tim Lincecum. Lincecum, the two-time defending National League Cy Young Award winner, has won two straight and five of his last seven starts and will toe the Dodger Stadium rubber tonight.
The right-hander recorded his first shutout of the season the last time out on Thursday in a 2-0 victory over the New York Mets. He allowed six hits, struck out five batters and issued just one walk, improving to 10-4 with a 2.94 ERA in 19 starts.
Lincecum, who is 4-1 in nine road starts, defeated Los Angeles back on April 17 this season and tossed six shutout innings in a 9-0 drubbing. Lincecum struck out seven batters and pushed his career mark against the Dodgers to 4-1 to go along with a 2.96 ERA in eight career games (7 starts).
San Francisco kicked off a seven-game road trip against LA and Arizona with Monday's 5-2 win, as Nate Schierholtz belted a two-run homer and Pablo Sandoval ended with two hits and an RBI. Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez each drove in a run for the Giants, who have won 10 of their last 12 games and sit four games behind San Diego for the NL West lead.
Giants young starter Madison Bumgarner picked up the win by holding the Dodgers to a pair of runs -- one earned -- and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. Brian Wilson later worked a busy ninth inning for his 26th save.
"It's fun to pitch here in this rivalry and get the win," Bumgarner said.
Los Angeles starter James McDonald didn't have much fun and was saddled with the loss, allowing four runs and nine hits in five innings. McDonald fanned five batter and issued two walks.
"I thought James had good stuff, but the numbers aren't going to look like that," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "We know we're better than we've been lately. We're not tired, just down a little bit."
Rafael Furcal finished 3-for-5 with a home run, Matt Kemp contributed three hits and an RBI and Russell Martin shook off a thumb ailment to post three hits for the Dodgers, who have dropped five in a row and fell six games off the pace in the NL West standings.
Los Angeles has won five of the first seven matchups with San Francisco this season. The Dodgers swept the Giants in three games by the Bay from June 28-30 and have won 11 of the past 16 meetings between the ballclubs.
Dodgers Drop Sixth Straight
Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) – Andres Torres sparked a three-run top of the ninth with a two-run double, as the San Francisco Giants rallied past the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-5, in a wild game between these NL West rivals.
With one out and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth, up by a run, acting manager Don Mattingly made a visit to the mound to discuss strategy with Jonathan Broxton and the infield. However, as he was leaving the mound, Mattingly got to the grass, then turned around after James Loney asked a question. Bochy noticed this rule:
Technically, Mattingly made two visits to the mound, meaning Broxton had to be removed from the game. At that point, nobody was warming up, naturally with their closer on the mound, so the Dodgers had to scramble to find relief. George Sherrill was brought in to turn switch-hitter Andres Torres around, but the embattled reliever allowed a two-run double and the lead was gone.
This isn’t even the first time Bochy has noticed this rule against the Dodgers. Four years ago, when Bruce Bochy was managing the Padres, he noticed the same technicality by Grady Little, which meant Brad Penny had to be removed from the game.
That forced LA to bring a new pitcher into the game. A cold George Sherrill faced off against Torres, who laced a two-run double into the gap in left- center field. Travis Schlichting was called in from the bullpen and issued an RBI single to Buster Posey two batters later. The Dodgers eventually got out of the inning, but not before the Giants took a 7-5 lead.
The bizzare events in the ninth capped off what was a heated game. A total of three batters were hit by pitches, and many others were almost hit. That helped lead to the ejections of Los Angeles manager Joe Torre, starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw, and bench coach Bob Schaefer.
Jul 20 10:50p by Eric Stephen - 0 comments