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The Dodgers open the home portion of their interleague schedule tonight, hosting the Tigers at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers have been brutal in games in American League ballparks for several years, but their interleague struggles haven't been confined to road games. The Dodgers haven't had a winning record against AL teams at home since the 2006 season.
| Dodgers At Home In Interleague Play | ||
| Year | Series | Games |
| 2010 | 1-2 | 3-6 |
| 2009 | 1-2 | 4-5 |
| 2008 | 1-2 | 4-5 |
| 2007 | 0-2 | 2-4 |
| Totals | 3-8 | 13-20 |
One of the series won by the Dodgers came against these Tigers, just last season. That's right, the Dodgers are hosting Detroit for the second straight season. The Dodgers are playing the Tigers in interleague play for the third time in four seasons. The Dodgers have two home interleague series on their schedule this year, playing Detroit and the Angels this week.
Tonight, in the series opener against Detroit, we have a future Dodger All-Star starting pitcher in Clayton Kershaw facing former (two-time) Dodger All-Star starter Brad Penny. Since leaving the Dodgers after 2008, Penny has had differing success depending on the league of his opponent:
| Brad Penny 2009-2011 | |||||||||
| vs. League | Starts | IP/GS | H/9 | HR/9 | BB/9 | K/9 | ERA | FIP | WHIP |
| National | 18 | 6.48 | 8.49 | 0.85 | 2.31 | 5.32 | 2.93 | 3.99 | 1.200 |
| American | 35 | 5.61 | 10.82 | 1.10 | 2.61 | 5.09 | 4.60 | 4.35 | 1.383 |
Kershaw hasn't picked up a win since May 29, but on the flip side he hasn't lost since April 26. Tonight is career start number 99 for the southpaw.
Lineups
| Tigers | Dodgers | |||
| CF | Jackson |
SS | Gordon | |
| LF | Wells | 3B | Uribe | |
| RF | Ordoñez | RF | Ethier | |
| 1B | Cabrera | CF | Kemp | |
| C | Martinez | 1B | Loney |
|
| SS | Peralta | LF | Thames | |
| 2B | Raburn | C | Navarro | |
| 3B | Worth | 2B | Carroll |
|
| P | Penny | P | Kershaw | |
Game Time: 7:10 p.m.
TV: KCAL