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Triple Crown Threat Matt Kemp hoping to pad his stats

By Phil Gurnee
85 years young - Don Newcombe was the bomb(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
85 years young - Don Newcombe was the bomb(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
Getty Images

 

Dodger Notes:

 

CENTURY MARK – Clayton Kershaw will appear in the 100th game of his career tonight (98th start) and leads the Majors (min. 500 IP) with a .222 opponents’ batting average since his big league debut on May 25, 2008. This season, the 23-year-old ranks fourth in the Majors with 102 strikeouts in 91.2 innings

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEWK! – The Dodgers would like to wish a very happy 85th birthday to Special Advisor to the Chairman and Dodger great Don Newcombe. The four-time National League All-Star went 149-90 in his 10-year big league career and remains the only man in baseball history to win the sport’s three major honors – Rookie of Year, Most Valuable Player and the Cy Young Award.

Since 2009, the Dodgers have averaged 6.53 runs per game in their 19 meetings with the Reds, which are the most runs Cincinnati has allowed against an NL opponent in that span (Source: Stats, LLC).

 

GETTING A CROWN – If the season ended today, Dodger outfielder Matt Kemp would narrowly miss out on becoming the National League’s first Triple Crown winner since the Cardinals’ Joe Medwick in 1937. Kemp leads the circuit with 20 home runs, ranks second with 56 RBI and is third in the league with a .332 batting average. The 26-year-old is just one of three Dodgers vying for the NL batting title:

 

Batting Leaders, NL

 

                1. Jose Reyes, NYM                            .342

                2. Joey Votto, CIN                              .333

                3. Matt Kemp, LAD                           .332

                4. Hunter Pence, HOU                        .325

                5. Andre Ethier, LAD                        .320

                6. Jamey Carroll, LAD                     .319

 

►Kemp extended his season-long hitting streak to seven games last night and has also scored a run in five consecutive games. With a run tonight, he will tie Casey Blake’s team-long streak of six games with a run scored set from April 20-May 27.

Lineups

Reds Dodgers
CF Stubbs SS Gordon
2B Phillips 2B Carroll
1B Votto RF Ethier
RF Bruce CF Kemp
3B Rolen 1B Loney
LF Heisy 3B Uribe
C Hernandez C Barajas
SS Janish LF Gwynn
P Cueto P Kershaw

 

Mattingly Info:

 

  • Broxton was throwing from the Dodger mound against hitters. Will throw again Friday as they decide his rebab route.
  • Blake had a MRI, they hope to compare it to one in 2005. Probably not available to pinch hit.
  • When Jansen comes back will slot into setup role. Donnie talked about Javy and how he's done the job and is the semi-closer, even though he didn't want to use that term. 
  • Kuo pitches tomorrow in Oklahoma City, then who knows
  • I asked him why Marcus sat while Dioner batted last night. His reply was that they didn't need a home run, only a single and that Dioner had been swinging the bat well last night. If he had got on base he would have pinch ran Trent for him. So basically he felt that in that matchup Navarro was the man for the job. 

Game Time: 7:10 p.m.

TV: KCAL, MLB Network

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