With the departure of 33 players to Taiwan this morning, the Dodgers are left with essentially a split squad for a week or so. To combat that, a number of players from minor league camp will be used off and on this week. Today, seven such players were used as the Dodgers tied the D-Backs 4-4 at Camelback Ranch. Kyle Russell, Pedro Baez, Andrew Lambo, Jay Gibbons, Timo Perez, Brandon Watson, and Christian Lara all made the trek from the other side of camp to wear nameless uniforms -- with numbers ranging from 84 to 98 -- and bolster the club's roster.
Andre Ethier hit the Dodgers' second home run of the spring, but did so with an extra at-bat. The original lineup had Ethier hitting third and Matt kemp fourth, but the Dodgers' lineup card presented to the umpires had Kemp listed third and Ethier fourth. In the third inning, Ethier and Kemp made the final two outs, in that order. Once the fourth inning started, after conferring with the umpires, acting manager Don Mattingly had Ethier leadoff the inning, and he deposited a Bobby Howry over the fence. Even for managers, spring training is needed to iron out the kinks before the season begins. "[Bench coach Bob Schaefer] puts it on the card and it's my job to check it," said Mattingly, "Its good to get something like this out of the way in spring."
Some other notes:
- Vicente Padilla and Ramon Ortiz, each on their second outing of the spring, each tossed three innings.
- Mattingly said Casey Blake is expected to play tomorrow, "as long as he comes in with no issues."
- Ramona Shelburne of ESPN L.A. is traveling with the Dodgers to Taiwan, and started her travelogue today
- Peter O'Malley remembers Willie Davis, per Steve Dilbeck of the L.A. Times
- Ethier and Kemp grace the cover of the 2010 Dodgers Media Guide, per Dylan Hernandez
- Tomorrow, when the Dodgers travel to Surprise to play the Royals, the probable pitchers are James McDonald, Russ Ortiz, Ramon Troncoso, Travis Schlichting, Javy Guerra, and Armando Zerpa. Gil Meche is slated to start for the Royals.