Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers

Rockies at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Dee Gordon, 2B
Yasiel Puig, RF
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Carl Crawford, LF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Tim Federowicz, C
Josh Beckett, P

By Jon Weisman

Well, it got a little cloudy today, but looks like no rain, which is a fine thing.

After all, the Dodgers have important efforts in two parks tonight. There’s Clayton Kershaw’s rehabilitation start at Rancho Cucamonga, and the small matter of the Major League club trying to snap out of its Phillies phunk against the up-and-coming Colorado Rockies, who arrive in town only one game out of first place (with San Francisco in between both teams by a half-game).

“We want to get back on track,” Dodger manager Don Mattingly said today. “Philadelphia came in and kicked us around a little bit.”

Mattingly spoke to reporters on a variety of topics, such as:

  • getting Brian Wilson on track (it’s believed to be execution, not health, that’s the issue)
  • the ongoing efforts to not to overwork relievers (which explained why Chris Perez didn’t stay in for a second inning of work)
  • why Zack Greinke didn’t pinch-hit if a pitcher needed to bat (didn’t want to risk injury with Kershaw already on the sidelines)
  • Thursday’s instant replay non-reversal of Carlos Ruiz tagging out Hanley Ramirez in front of home plate. (“I looked at it last night again (after the game),” Mattingly said, “and I think they got the call right, honestly.”)
  • how instant replay is working in general (“It seems good to me. I’ve heard a lot of complaints, but it seems to be working” and should continue to improve)
  • whether pitchers are bothered by the delays (“I haven’t heard any complaints.”)
  • and what’s up with Carl Crawford, who is in a 3-for-27 slump with no walks and is batting sixth tonight. (“I feel Carl is swinging the bat really well, honestly. He’s hitting the ball on the nose, but he’s not getting a lot for it.”)

Tonight marks Crawford’s first start in a position lower than second in the batting order as a Dodger.