Second Half Begins in Rattler Country

Dodgers @ Diamondbacks
6:40pm
Game 1

The Dodgers will start the second half of the season in Arizona with a three game series and then will travel to San Francisco for three before heading home. The Dodgers sit in 4th place, 11 1/2 games back and 10 games under .500. They will hope to continue their 4 game winning streak they were on before the All-Star Break. AZ finds themselves in second place, 3 1/2 games back of the SF Giants and they are 6 games over .500. Kirk Gibson looks to make a run in the second half to challenge the Giants.

If you didn't catch the All-Star Game, the National League won for the second year in a row and will get home field advantage in the World Series. Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier both had singles in the game, and Dre had an RBI single which was the first time a Dodger got a RBI in an all-star game since Mike Piazza in 1996. Kemp also had a walk and run scored when he was on base when Prince Fielder hit his 3-run homerun. Clayton Kershaw pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 5th and even struck out Big Poppy!

Kershaw (9-4, 3.03) will begin the second part of the season on the mound for the Dodgers. His last time out before the break, Clayton pitched 8 shutout innings. Joe Saunders (6-7, 3.86) will pitch for the D-Backs, and lost his last time out against the Dodgers earlier in the season.

The Dodgers also optioned A.J. Ellis back to AAA this morning, and reactivated Big Rod from the DL. We may see Juan Rivera, the newest Dodger, who replaced the useless Thames on the roster.

Lineup:

Furcal 6
Uribe 5
Ethier 9
Kemp 8
Rivera 7
Loney 3
Navarro 2
Carroll 4
Kershaw 1

Ok, so Rivera is starting in left field and batting behind Kemp which is ummm interesting. Then there's Uribe batting second...ok put your .207 hitter second....alright....and once again Carroll is buried below Fatty in the 8 hole. Ok this is not rocket science, Donnie....

Go Blue:)