The Los Angeles Dodgers open a four-city, 11-game road trip on Thursday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a makeup game that is more an inconvenience than anything else, for both teams. The Dodgers originally had a 10-game road trip scheduled through three cities: Atlanta, Washington DC, and San Francisco -- but added this game after having their May 12 game in Pittsburgh rained out.
The Dodgers have a stretch of games on 24 straight days, which had to be approved by the MLB Players Association. But the Pirates are inconvenienced too, as today was a scheduled off day for them as well. In fact, they are in the middle of their own 10-game road trip, as they finished a series in Houston Wednesday night and travel to Chicago to battle the Cubs starting Friday.
Dana Eveland, whose last major league game was on June 23, 2010 while with the Pirates, will be promoted by the Dodgers today to start the game. Eveland was an All-Star in the Pacific Coast League this season, going 12-8 with a 4.38 ERA with the Triple A Albuquerque Isotopes.
Brad Lincoln, who made 19 Triple A starts of his own this season, gets the start for the Pirates. Lincoln is 1-0 with a 3.42 ERA this season in Pittsburgh in seven games, including three starts. In each of his three starts for the Pirates this season, Lincoln has pitched six innings and allowed two runs or less.
Thursday's 1:10 p.m. PDT game will be televised by KCAL. For more news and information on the Dodgers, be sure to read True Blue LA.