Rain Leaves Dodgers Fit To Be Tied

The Dodgers and Angels were able to stave off the weather for a while on Sunday, but in the end Mother Nature won out, ending their game at a 1-1 tie after five and a half innings. It was the fourth tie for the Dodgers in 16 Cactus League games this spring.

Dan Haren retired the first 12 batters of the game before allowing a leadoff double to Adam Kennedy in the fifth inning. Kennedy scored on a single by Juan Uribe.

Chris Capuano allowed one run on two hits in his four frames, striking out three with no walks. Capuano was pleased with the outing, his third of the spring, as he was able to mix in all of his pitches.

"My changeup didn't feel great today. I was having trouble spiking a few in front of the plate," Capuano said. "That was frustrating as they were getting stuck in my hand a little. But I also threw some really good ones, and overall I was happy."

Manager Don Mattingly was pleased with Capuano as well.

"We saw a guy who's athletic, who is going to change speeds, he's going to mix. He knows what he's doing. He's a guy who can throw the kitchen sink at you as far as variety of pitches, with different weapons for different guys," Mattingly said of his southpaw. "He's going to give up some hits, but he's going to keep us in games."

With only a few starts left before the regular season, now is roughly the time when pitchers start to shift from working on and getting a feel for their pitches to preparing like a regular season game. "I'm in game mode now. When I'm out there, my sequences and the pitches I'm throwing are game-like. I'm trying to get my mind ready for game speed," Capuano said.

Though the rain and wet practice fields hindered morning workouts, keeping players inside, Mattingly said today was a productive day, especially since Capuano was able to get his scheduled start in. "Today was perfect. After the split we were able to get some stuff done on the board what we wanted to do. We were going to do that later in camp, but that was a perfect day for it. We got a lot done, actually," the manager said after the game.

More Cuts

The Dodgers trimmed their camp roster to 45, as Lance Zawadzki, Jeff Baisley, Matt Wallach, and Gorman Erickson were all reassigned to minor league camp after the game. "It just got to the point where there weren't enough at-bats. More and more guys are wanting more innings," said Mattingly, who also noted that all of them could still see some time in major league games, especially with two remaining split squad days the next two Fridays.

Tucson Travel Roster Taking Shape

The next split squad day is Friday, with the Dodgers playing a pair of games at 1 p.m., including a charity game in Tucson against the White Sox to support the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Foundation. Confirmed to play in the game for the Dodgers are Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Tony Gwynn Jr., Juan Rivera, Mark Ellis, A.J. Ellis, Dee Gordon, and Jerry Hairston Jr.

Up Next

The Dodgers head back to Goodyear for the second time in six days on Monday to battle the Cleveland Indians. Clayton Kershaw gets the start for the Dodgers, and is expected to throw somewhere in the neighborhood of 80-85 pitches. Looking ahead at the schedule, the Dodgers will need to give Kershaw five days rest twice to keep him on track for his opening day start on April 5 in San Diego. The Dodgers battle the Milwaukee Brewers at Maryvale on March 25, and are at Salt River Fields to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 31, meaning it is entirely possible that Kershaw won't make a single spring start at Camelback Ranch this spring.

Jeanmar Gomez starts Monday for Cleveland.

Also scheduled to pitch for the Dodgers are Scott Elbert, Kenley Jansen, Javy Guerra, and Scott Rice.

Today's Particulars

Home runs: none

WP: none

LP: none