Silver Lining: Injuries Have Provided Opportunity For Dodgers Bullpen

To say the Dodgers are battling injuries is an understatement. They currently have eight players on the disabled list, and it looks like two more are out today. Both Juan Uribe, who strained his left hip flexor Friday night, and Aaron Miles, who missed the last two games with a sore rib cage, are out of today's lineup. It is unknown whether or not they are available to pinch hit if needed. If Uribe and Miles aren't available, the Dodgers' bench is down to Tony Gwynn and Dioner Navarro.

Four of the eight disabled Dodgers are relief pitchers, but the ones who are active -- no, not you Lance -- have picked up the slack. Here are the Dodger bullpen numbers in may for the seven current members of the bullpen:

Five different Dodgers have recorded a save this month, including Jonathan Broxton and Vicente Padilla, who are both on the disabled list.

Lineups

With all the injuries, the Dodgers starting rotation has been pretty much a rock all season. Jon Garland, today's starter, is the only one to miss a start this season, and he only missed one, back in April. Garland, who pitched for the White Sox for eight seasons and was a big part of their World Series win in 2005, has pitched five straight quality starts. He has a 3.24 ERA in 25 innings over his last four starts, but is 0-2 because the Dodgers have only scored six runs while he has been in the game during that span.

Jerry Sands gets a start today with the left-handed Mark Buehrle on the mound, and Sands is playing left field. Andre Ethier is today's designated hitter, getting the day off without the day off that Matt Kemp received Friday night. Jay Gibbons is in right field in place of Ethier. Last night's hero Russ Mitchell gets his third straight start, playing third base today.

Adam Dunn, the primary DH for Chicago, is making his third start of the season at first base today.

Game Time: 11:10 a.m.

TV: KCAL, MLB Network

MLB Gameday