Brad Ausmus Manages Dodgers in First Game of Finale Series

Arizona Diamondbacks @ LA Dodgers
7:10 PM PT
Game 1

John Ely
4-9
5.10


Zach Kroenke
0-0
21.60

Lineup:
Theriot 4
Blake 5
Ethier 9
Kemp 8
Loney 3
Mitchell 7
Ellis 2
Hu 6
Ely 1

Brad Ausmus will be given the opportunity to manage game 1 in the 2010 season finale series for the Dodgers. Hey, any game that doesn't have Torre at the helm is fine with me. Ausmus managed in last year's finale game and picked up a win. Ausmus will be behind the plate on Sunday's final game, and then he will officially retire from MLB. It will be his 1,938th game caught which is 7th on the all-time list. There's been talk of Ausmus managing one day, and I say go for it Brad! He seems to be well-liked, and we all know becoming a manager is all about who you know.

The Dodgers look to continue a bit of a hot streak after sweeping the down and out Rockies at Coors Field. If they win all 3 games in this last series, they will finish at an even .500.

After much rotation shuffling drama, John Ely will make his final start of this season. He's looking to end on a good note, since he has struggled recently and has a 7.47 ERA in the month of September.

The D-backs will start the rookie Zach Kroenke in his first major league start. Daniel Hudson had a freak finger injury, and cannot pitch his scheduled last start. Kroenke, a 26 year old left-hander, only has played in 2 big league games. He has started 9 times in AAA Reno but was mostly used as a reliever.

Torre's lineup is a bit out of whack today with Blake hitting 2nd, Hu annoyingly playing shortstop instead of Furcal, and Mitchell is in left field. I'm sure Torre will make numerous double switches tonight, so we may see Furcal and even Kershaw later in the game. Kershaw needs only 3 more strikeouts to reach 500 in his young career.

Kemp has been swinging a hot bat, and has had 2 homeruns including a grand slam in his last 2 games picking up 6 RBIs. He now has 25 homeruns for the season.

San Francisco is 1 game away from clinching the NL West over San Diego. Simply repugnant. Atlanta is 1st in the Wild Card race, with San Diego trying to hang on to a chance at contention.

This will be my final game analysis of the season. I will be in video editing seclusion most of tomorrow, but Scott will be here to wrap up the final 2 games. We have some great ideas for making it through the long cold doldrums of winter, so stay tuned! Go Blue:)