The day that we have all been waiting for has arrived, as the Dodgers have cut the cord on Garret Anderson, designating him for assignment. They have purchased the contract of Jay Gibbons to take his place. Anderson amassed 163 plate appearances, hitting a paltry .181/.204/.271.
The Dodgers head into their finale with the Nationals, looking for Ted Lilly to continue his streak. He retired the final 20 batters of his first start as a Dodger, allowing a grand total of one run and two hits in his seven innings of work. It was one of 14 quality starts the Dodgers have pitched in the 23 games since the All-Star break.
Jason Marquis gets his first start since April for the Nationals, as he returns from the disabled list. He made two rehab starts with Triple A Syracuse of the International League, allowing six runs in 11 innings with three walks and 11 strikeouts.
The Dodgers yesterday extended their affiliate agreement with the Class A Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League, through 2014, one day after similarly extending their pact with the Class AA Chattanooga Lookouts.
Pregame Notes
- Joe Torre said that Gibbons will primarily be "a bench guy," and that with Gibbons on the roster he plans to double switching than he did with Anderson.
- Torre said he is more likely to use Hong-Chih Kuo more often, such as on back-to-back days, saying "at this point in time, we may stretch him a little bit."
- Ronald Belisario will pitch again today for Inland Empire on a rehab assignment, and Torre said once Belisario is cleared to play, he will be activated
- Rafael Furcal is expected to return to the lineup Tuesday. Whenever he returns, Furcal will bat second behind Scott Podsednik
- There is no update on Manny Ramirez, other than that he still hasn't taken an MRI yet. Torre said the original prognosis from team doctors was that Ramirez would be out anywhere from three to five weeks, and it sounds like the upper limit of that projection is being met.
- Gibbons will wear number 31.
Around The Majors
- You aren't going to hear a more excited, insane home run call by a major league announcing crew than that of Greg Brown and Steve Blass last night, calling the first career walk-off home run by Pedro Alvarez.
- Shades of McCovey (and DeShields): Toronto rookie catcher J.P. Arencibia had one heck of a major league debut yesterday, collecting four hits, and two home runs.
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Game Time: 1:10 p.m.
TV: Prime Ticket