Chad Billingsley is one of three starters going for their National League-leading ninth victory today, along with Johan Santana and Matt Cain. Billingsley has been outstanding this season, and even more so on the road, posting a 1.82 ERA and a 1.125 WHIP away from Dodger Stadium. Of his five road starts, the only one the Dodgers lost was in Chicago, where Billingsley gave up only two runs in seven innings.
The Rangers will send to the mound 22-year old Derek Holland, rated their second-best prospect by Baseball America before the season. The publication noted "Holland has a chance to be a frontline starter along the lines of Scott Kazmir," but so far he has a 7.04 ERA in three starts. His x-FIP is only 4.42, but its too early to take any meaningful analysis from such things.
In June, the struggling Dodger offense has been led by Andre Ethier (.341/.386/.780) and Matt Kemp (.324/.359/.514). The only other Dodger with an OPS above .700 this month is Rafael Furcal, hitting .257/.333/.429.
All the regulars are in the lineup today, with Russell Martin moving to DH. Matt Kemp moves up from ninth to sixth in the order:
| Rangers | Dodgers | |||
| 2B | Kinsler | LF | Pierre | |
| 3B | Young | SS | Furcal | |
| 1B | Blalock | 2B | Hudson | |
| DH | Andruw | 3B | Blake | |
| RF | Cruz | RF | Ethier | |
| LF | Murphy | CF | Kemp | |
| CF | Byrd | 1B | Loney | |
| C | Saltalamacchia | DH | Martin | |
| SS | Andrus | C | Ausmus | |
Get your guesses in for ""She Is Gone" here.