Manny gets a warm welcome back...

Manny received a very warm welcome back with a standing 'O' for his first at-bat. Dodger fans seem to care as much as Manny does about his suspension, not at all. I just can't wait until he puts one in the front row. Manny was 1 for 4 with 2Ks and a single. The whole Dodger offense could not seem to produce any runs last night. Wandy Rodriguez pitched a gem getting out of every single jam the Dodgers put him in, including bases loaded with 1 out. 

Trade Rumors: It looks like the Dodgers won't use Kershaw as a center piece to go after Halladay, according to SI.coms Heyman. The Dodgers also seem to be going after Chad Qualls or George Sherrill for some bullpen help. Maybe Bellasario's or Broxtons injury is more serious than originally expected. Either way the Dodgers could use another bullpen pitcher. The bullpen maybe their biggest issue.

Tonight's Game: Oswalt V. Billingsley--Hopefully the Dodgers offense can at least give Chad some offensive help. 

Question of the Day: Who will close with Broxton out?

Check out StubHub... as cheap as a Dollar a ticket...

Astros/Dodgers: Series Preview

The Dodgers are starting the second half against the Houston Astros, the forgotten NL Central contender. The Astros are only 3.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals, tied with the Cubs. Nobody would have the expected the Astros to have the same record average as the Chicago Cubs at halftime. The Astros bat for a high average as a team with .267 average and are only average in the rest of the offensive team stats. Their pitching is only a little above average ranking 6th in ERA. Wandy Rodriguez has been their best pitcher this year with an 8-6 record and a 2.96 ERA. He will start off the series against Randy Wolf, who got his first win after several disappointing no decisions. This is a very important series for the Dodgers to have a good start to the beginning of the first half. 

Check out the pitching match-ups:

Wolf (4-3) V. Rodriguez (8-6)

Billingsley (9-4) V. Oswalt (5-4)

Kershaw (7-5) V. Hampton (5-6)

Kuroda (3-5) V. Ortiz (3-4)

Predictions: Wolf beats Rodriguez, Billingsley beats Oswalt, Kershaw beats Hampton, Ortiz beats Kuroda. Dodgers win 3 of 4. 

Dodgers to watch: Furcal, I have always believed that Furcal would come around after a mediocre second half. He showed a glimmer of hope the last week before the All Star game. I look for him to keep it up the rest of the season. 

Astros to watch: Lance Berkman, holds the most HR, RBIs, and OPS for the Astros. He should be the Astros biggest offensive threat. 

Biggest Series Question: Will Kuroda be able to finally have a quality start after returning from the Disabled List? 

Yo, Joe: Is Matt Kemp going to still bat 8th? Please reconsider...

Manny Watch: Series line: 2 HRs, 6 RBIs, plays 3/4 full games. 

Promotion of the Series: Thursday, July 16 The Dodgers have the second poster night: "The Comeback Kids"

Notes: Jonathan Broxton remains on the 15 day DL. Billingsley gave up 1 ER in one 1 inning and Orlando Hudson went 1 for 2 in the All-Star game. Ronald Bellasario should be returning to the Dodgers at some point in the series. Hopefully, this is only a minor elbow injury. 

Dodgers Vs. Athletics: Series Preview

The Athletics are visiting Dodger Stadium for a 3 game set. The Dodgers should have the advantage in this series considering the A's epidemic offense. Offensively, the A's rank only 14th in the American League in: AVG, OBP, SLG, OPS, and SB. This should match up with the Dodgers especially because of Dodgers dominating pitching. However, lately the A's pitching has had a upgrade with prospects like Vin Mazzaro. My prediction: Dodgers 2/3. 

Check out the pitching match-ups:

Braden (3.33) vs. Kershaw (4.50)

Cahill (4.17) vs. Kuroda (2.86)

Mazzaro (1.37) vs. Wolf (3.41)

Players to watch: 

Dodgers: Hiroki Kuroda: Can Kuroda keep up his spectacular pitching after coming back from the DL?

A's: Mazzaro: Can he continue to dominate after coming up from the Minor Leagues?

Game by Game Predictions: Tuesday: Dodgers win, Wednesday: Dodgers win, Thursday: A's win.

Promotion of the Series: Free Parking at Dodger Stadium. ($15 Dollars off)

All-Star watch: Orlando Hudson is still trying to chase Chase Utley for the All-Star voting. Be sure to vote for O-Dog at www.dodgers.com

Game to watch: Thursday: Mazzaro vs. Wolf

Be sure to get some tickets at STUBHUB... you can get to tickets as low as $1.

Dodgers secret weapon...

James Loney seems to have been the forgotten Dodger first baseman. Who has the most RBIs on the Dodgers? James Loney. Who has been arguably the most consistent hitter for the Dodgers? James Loney. Who only has only 2 Errors on the season? James Loney. Sure, Loney doesn't go into a slump only hitting .100 for a week then roles around with 2 walk offs and 5 home runs in a week, but, he brings stability to the Dodger line up. Some would disagree with me... Orlando Hudson deserves all the credit this year so far, and one could make a great argument for that, but Loney has quietly become a rock in the middle of the Dodger order. He always seems to get a hit when runners are in scoring position. 

One of my friends the other day said, "Yes, James Loney is up, guarantee RBI," and I said, "what Loney? No..." But my friend was right. Loney has been an absolute machine when runners are in scoring position. Think about this... Loney only has 2 HRs this year, and 42 RBIs, that would mean he would have drove in 40 other runners. That is a lot of RBIs for such a limited home run hitter. He is hitting .306 with runners in scoring position this year. The best out of any Dodger. 

So, when the game is on the line give me James Loney.

Rangers: Series Review

The Dodgers head to Arlington to face the Texas Rangers. This should be another interesting interleague series. I definitely hope the Dodgers are able to at least get 1/3. Interleague has never been kind to the Dodgers and it looks like this won't be any different. Although the Rangers are 4-6 in their last 10 games their offense has been swinging them to victory. But, that's not all, believe it or not their pitching has been doing well too. The Rangers pitching? Yes! The Dodgers do have the upper-hand in the pitching department but anything could happen at the Ranger's park. Although, being over shadowed by the new Yankee Stadium, their park still can't hold in the balls. I think the Dodgers will only pull 1/3, mainly because of their struggling offense. I don't think the Dodgers will be able to win only scoring 2-4 runs a game. What do you think?

Check out the pitching match-ups:

Kuroda V. Padilla

Wolf V. Feldman 

Billingsley V. Holland

The Dodgers definitely have the better starting pitching. But, will it be enough?

Players to watch: 

Dodgers: Andre Ethier So far in June: .400, 5HR, 8 RBIs

Rangers: Andruw Jones Yeah, I know. 

Quote of the Series: "I don't have a problem with them," Jones said. "I don't have a problem with the team. I wasn't in their plans when I first got there. It's one of those things where you move on, change of pace."-Andruw Jones (Reported by: T.R. Sullivan) 

What the quote should have been: "The Dodgers are coming to town? Are their going to be Dodger fans there? I don't think they like me very much..."

Dodgers best chance to win: Game 1, The Dodgers should do well with Kuroda on the mound who has had two very solid starts since his return. 

Rangers best chance to win: Game 2, Wolf has given up a lot of home runs lately, something you don't want to do against the Rangers. 

Cool promotions? Friday is Firework night...

Prediction: Game 1- Dodgers; Game 2- Rangers; Game 3- Rangers.

Come on Joe...

If I had five questions to ask Joe Torre:

1. Why does one of our best hitters in Matt Kemp continue to bat eighth? 

(Kemp .309/.375/.480 and 33 RBIs)

2. Why does one of our most struggling hitters in Russell Martin continue to bat in the 4th or 5th hole?

(Martin .254/.366/.301) 

3. How long are you going to let Furcal make little-league errors before you tell him to get his head in the game?

(Furcal 7 errors, even more just bone headed plays)

4. Who is going to be Broxton's set-up man Troncoso or Bellasario?

5. What have you done about the Manny Situation?

Eth-money providing Dodgers with needed power...

Andre Ethier may have found his power-swing... even without Manny. I, like a lot of Dodger fans quickly fell off of the Ethier band wagon after his power/average slump. Post-Manny Ethier struggled. He continued to drop his shoulder and did not have the same patience as he did before. But, he finally has gotten his swing back: it seems like he is hitting home runs every game. 

Obviously, Ethier was the hero of the Phillies series which was greatly needed. Without Ethier, their would be a lot of sad Dodger fans and a lot of neigh sayers, we've all seen this: "dodgers are only good because they are playing the NL west teams." 

Dodger fans owe Ethier a lot for keeping the Dodgers on track...

Tomorrow, 5 questions for Joe Torre.