Dodgers at Cubs, 11:20 a.m.

  • Russell Martin, C
  • Xavier Paul, RF
  • Matt Kemp, CF
  • Casey Blake, 3B
  • James Loney, 1B
  • Reed Johnson, LF
  • Blake DeWitt, 2B
  • Jamey Carroll, SS
  • John Ely, P

John Ely was raised a White Sox fan who stayed away from Wrigley Field until his agent took him there, writes Tony Jackson of ESPNLosAngeles.com. And Ely’s dad Jack won’t go to Wrigley, even to see his boy pitch, adds Michael Becker of the Press-Enterprise.

  • Josh Wilker of Cardboard Gods spent an evening with Bill Lee, and it was as memorable as you could have hoped for.
  • Jaime Jarrin, Peter O’Malley and Dodger scout Camilo Pascual are among the inaugural inductees in the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame.
  • Steve Garvey’s son Ryan is a 6-foot junior outfielder batting .390 for Palm Desert High School. Pete Donovan of the Desert Sun talked with Dad as he took in his son’s game (via Baseball Think Factory).
  • Colorado pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, whose only loss this season was to the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw, is the first pitcher since Juan Marichal in 1966 and fourth in a century to win nine of his first 10 starts with an ERA below 1.00, according to TMI. The Dodgers will miss him when they travel to Colorado this weekend.
  • Geoff Young of Ducksnorts has a good recap of the Padres’ eventful 2-1, 13-inning victory over St. Louis late Wednesday.

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The following notes were sent by Kenton Wong of ESPN Stats & Info:

  • Jonathan Broxton had just one save in April but has saved 10 games so far in May.
  • Casey Blake went 2 for 5 with a HR and a double Wednesday for his 12th multi-hit game this season.
  • Blake is batting .412 (14-34) with two doubles, four HR and eight RBI in his last nine games.
  • James Loney picked up three hits Wednesday for the 8th time this season. That is tied for most three-hit games in MLB this season with the Angels’ Kendry Morales.
  • Matt Kemp was 1 for 5 with two RBI Wednesday for his 10th multi-RBI game of the season and first since May 14 at San Diego.
  • Hong-Chih Kuo threw 1 1/3 innings, recording all four outs via strikeout. He extended his scoreless innings streak to 10 1/3 innings (11 appearances).
  • Ted Lilly (1-4, 4.30 ERA) is 3-1, 3.94 ERA in career vs. the Dodgers. Since winning his season debut, he has gone 0-4. He is 0-2 with a 5.68 ERA this season at Wrigley Field.

Scheduled Colorado pitching matchups:
Friday: Carlos Monasterios (1-0, 1.90 ERA) vs. Jeff Francis (1-0, 0.68 ERA)
Saturday: Hiroki Kuroda (5-2, 3.03 ERA) vs. Aaron Cook (1-3, 5.40 ERA)
Sunday: Clayton Kershaw (4-3, 2.90 ERA) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (3-2, 3.09 ERA)