The Dodgers look to rebound from Monday night's loss to Pittsburgh, and send Ted Lilly to the mound looking for a rebound of his own. Lilly gave up three home runs in his last start, a 5-1 loss to the Cubs last Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. Lilly has alternated bad and good starts in his last five outings, so perhaps he is due for a good start tonight.
Lilly is 5-4 with a 3.89 ERA against the Pirates in 14 career starts, all coming in the last four seasons. He has pitched at least six innings against Pittsburgh in 10 straight starts, and lasted at least seven innings in six of his last eight outings against them. Ryan Doumit, catching tonight for the Pirates, has the most career plate appearances against Lilly of anyone on Pittsburgh, and his hitting .296/.321/.519 with three doubles and a home run in 28 PA. Lilly has had success against Andrew McCutchen (.200/.333/.250 in 24 PA) and Ronny Cedeno (.143/.200/.143 in 15 PA). Garrett Jones is 6-for-15 with a double and a home run off Lilly, but Jones was given the night off.
Kevin Correia started opening day this season for the Pirates, and he has pitched well so far. He is 5-2 with a 2.98 ERA, and tied for the NL lead in wins. Correia isn't striking anyone out (4.08 per nine innings, 60th out of 61 qualified starters in the National League), but he has limited walks (2.18 per nine innings) and home runs (0.79 per nine), and has induced ground balls at a career-high rate of 51.0% of his batted balls, 18th out of 61 qualified starters in the NL).
Andre Ethier is 9-for-17 off Correia, with two doubles, a triple, and four walks. James Loney is 5-for-21, but with two home runs. Matt Kemp is 4-for-23 with a double off Correia, while the left side of the infield (Juan Uribe: 6-for-12 with a double and a home run; Jamey Carroll: 5-for-12) has done well.
Lineups
Jerry Sands drops to eighth in the order for the first time.
Dodgers | Pirates | |||
SS | Carroll | CF | McCutchen | |
2B | Miles | LF | Tabata | |
RF | Ethier | RF | Diaz | |
CF | Kemp | 2B | Walker | |
3B | Uribe | 1B | Pearce | |
1B | Loney | C | Doumit | |
C | Barajas |
3B | Wood | |
LF | Sands | SS | Cedeno | |
P | Lilly | P | Correia |
Notes
- Kenny Geidel, a long-time vendor in Pittsburgh at Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins games for years, passed away on Monday. Geidel was known for his loud voice, and was known as the Lemonade Guy, or "Coke Here" Guy according to various reports.
- According to the Pirates' game notes, the last time a starting pitcher signed by Pittsburgh won more than five games was in 2003, when Jeff Suppan won 10 games and Jeff D'Amico won nine games.
- Joe Lemire at Sports Illustrated wonders why teams don't employ more defensive shifts on right-handed batters.
Game Time: 4:05 p.m.
TV: KCAL