+6
The Dodgers are 1-5 against the Phillies this season.
The Dodgers finally broke through against a Phillies' starting pitcher on Wednesday afternoon, plating five runs off Vance Worley in the first inning. The Dodgers would lead 6-0 early, but it wasn't enough as Philadelphia stormed back for a 9-8 win to complete their three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers have lost four straight games.
Chad Billingsley did not have a good day on Wednesday. He didn't allow a run in the first inning but he was taxed for 30 pitches, including 15 to leadoff man Jimmy Rollins, who fouled off nine pitches before popping out to catcher Rod Barajas in foul territory. Billingsley was staked to a 6-0 lead but left the game in the fifth inning after allowing five runs.
Billingsley wasn't helped by his defense, as both James Loney and Casey Blake made key errors that lead to three unearned runs, but Billingsley had plenty of problems of his own doing. Billingsley walked three and struck out zero, the fourth time in his career that he failed to strikeout a single batter. Over his last three starts, Billingsley has 10 walks and six strikeouts in 16 innings.
"I didn't have quite as good a rhythm, and I was struggling with my command a little bit," Billingsley said after the game. "I just couldn't make the pitches when I needed to."
Offensively the Dodgers had a nice game. Matt Kemp had four hits and stole his 30th base of the season. Juan Rivera had three hits of his own, including a three-run home run in the first inning. It was just the Dodgers' fifth three-run home run of the season.
The Phillies took the lead with four runs in the sixth inning, as Blake Hawksworth allowed a two-run single by Chase Utley and a two-run, opposite-field home run by Ryan Howard. The Dodgers scored one run in the ninth inning to pull within 9-8, but Rod Barajas flew out to the warning track in center field to end the game. Ryan Madson picked up his third save in three days, and the Phillies had a 9-1 road trip, the best road trip in the long history of their franchise.
The Dodgers are off Thursday, and open a three-game series against Houston Friday night. Nathan Eovaldi makes his second major league start and his Dodger Stadium debut, against Bud Norris. The Dodgers, however, will be without the services of shortstop Dee Gordon, who was placed on the disabled list with a right shoulder contusion. A corresponding roster move likely won't be made until Friday.
For more news and information on the Dodgers, be sure to read True Blue LA.
The Dodgers got more bad news Wednesday on the injury front, as their shortstop of the future, Dee Gordon, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right shoulder contusion. Gordon initially injured the shoulder in a rundown play on Saturday in Phoenix, then aggravated it on Tuesday night on a swing. He had an MRI Wednesday morning which revealed the contusion.
Manager Don Mattingly said after the game that Gordon would probably be back to baseball activities within a few days, and is likely to be ready to return once the 15 days are up. The Dodgers likely won't make a corresponding roster move until Friday, when they open a weekend series with Houston. Ivan DeJesus Jr. and Russell Mitchell are the only infielders on the 40-man roster, and Mitchell is a corner man.
The Dodgers could promote someone like Justin Sellers, who isn't on the 40-man roster, as they have an open spot plus several other injured players who could be moved to the 60-day DL to create even more roster space. The Dodgers have had 16 different players make 24 different trips to the disabled list this season.
For more news and information on Dee Gordon and the Dodgers, be sure to read True Blue LA.
Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Dee Gordon is out of the starting lineup for Wednesday's finale against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium. Gordon aggravated his right shoulder with a swing in the bottom of the eighth inning on Tuesday night, and was promptly removed from the game. The rookie shortstop had an MRI exam on his shoulder this morning, an act unfamiliar to Gordon:
At the doctors office...it's weird bc I'm never hurtless than a minute ago via Twitter for iPhone 
Favorite 
Retweet 
Reply
Dee Gordon
skinnyswag9
Gordon initially hurt his right shoulder on a rundown play on Saturday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field in Phoenix. At the time, doctors ruled out any shoulder separation or dislocation. Gordon was held out of the starting lineup Sunday and Monday, though he did enter the game on a double switch Monday night against Philadelphia.
MRI results are as of yet unknown. The Dodgers have had 15 different players make 23 trips to the disabled list this season.
For more news and information on Dee Gordon and the Dodgers, be sure to read True Blue LA.
The Dodgers and Phillies end their season series Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. Here are the starting lineups:
Rollins SS
Victorino CF
Utley 2B
Howard 1B
Pence RF
Ibanez LF
Schneider C
Martinez 3B
Worley P
Miles 2B
Blake 3B
Ethier RF
Kemp CF
Rivera LF
Loney 1B
Navarro C
Carroll SS
Billingsley P
Wednesday's 12:10 p.m. game will be televised by Prime Ticket. For more news and information on the Dodgers, be sure to read True Blue LA.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have had their fair share of devastating team injuries this season, but maybe none bigger than their former All-Star closer Jonathan Broxton. Broxton hit the DL May 3rd after having a bone bruise develop on his pitching elbow and hasn't seen any game time since, but team doctors feel that he may have a chance to return to the boys in blue this season; just don't hold your breath.
Broxton threw a mini-session this week indoors from approximately 45 feet, tossing the ball more than throwing it hard though. He'll gradually throw harder, longer, and from further distances over the next few weeks as team doctors monitor his progress.
"It's not unrealistic," said Stan Conte, director of medical services, "Start slow and build up. Hopefully everything's healed up at this point, because he doesn't have any symptoms. We're back to where we were as far as a throwing program."
Once fully recovered, he likely wouldn't be able to make a minor-league rehabilitation assignment due to the fact that Single-A Rancho Cucamonga's regular season ends September 14, while double-A Chattanooga and triple-A Albuquerque ends September 5. He'd work out with the Arizona rookie leaguers as his rehab assignment.
For more on the Dodgers check out True Blue L.A.
Chad Billingsley and the Dodgers look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Phillies on Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers have lost each of the first two games of the series, scoring a total of one run off starters Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. Today, they get a break, if they can call it that, in facing Vance Worley.
Worley is 8-1 with a 2.35 ERA, 3.28 FIP, and 3.77 xFIP this season. He has won six straight decisions and the Phillies haven't lost a game he has started since May 29. Worley has six quality starts in his last eight outings.
Billingsley has similar peripherals to Worley, but unlike Worley, Billingsley has a higher ERA. Billingsley is 10-9 with a 4.17 ERA, but his FIP is 3.41 and his xFIP is 3.82. Billingsley has a decision in 16 straight starts, and has alternated wins and losses for each of his last seven starts. He hopes that trend will end Wednesday since his last outing was a win.
The Dodgers have had eight chances to be swept in the final game of a three- or four-game series this season, but are 7-1 in those games. Andre Ethier has a six-game hitting streak, during which he is hitting .385/.407/.500. The Dodgers will wear powder blue throwback uniforms Wednesday for the fifth of six times this season.
Wednesday's 12:10 p.m. game will be televised by Prime Ticket. For more news and information on the Dodgers, be sure to read True Blue LA.
Eugenio Velez & The Quest For Los Angeles Dodgers Immortality
by Eric Stephen
The Los Angeles Dodgers lost on Wednesday to the Philadelphia Phillies, which in and of itself isn't much news, given that Philadelphia might go down as one of the best teams in the history of the National League. Sure, the Dodgers blew a 6-0 lead and lost 9-8, completing a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium, but that's not important. What is important is Eugenio Velez and his quest for history.
Velez entered Wednesday's game on a double switch in the top of the sixth inning, and proceeded to fly out to center field in both plate appearances. That moved Velez, the 29-year old former Giant, to 0-for-21 in his first season as a Dodger. It should be noted that Velez worked a walk off Cliff Lee on Tuesday, so Velez should be rewarded with some bonus points for that. But no hits in 21 at-bats is no way to begin a tenure with a team.
Since the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, the only player to begin his career with a worse run than Velez was J.D. Drew, who began his Dodger career 0-for-25. Drew hit .284/.399/.505 in two seasons in Los Angeles and was reviled by many fans; perhaps a better start might have won Drew more favor. Velez on Sunday passed Wes Covington, who was 0-for-18 after being acquired by the Dodgers in 1966.
How long can Velez keep this up? Stay tuned to watch exciting Dodgers baseball, and find out!
For more news on the Dodgers and on Velez's quest for immortality, be sure to read True Blue LA.
Aug 10 7:02p