Dodgers Ready For Break

Ted Lilly found out Wednesday morning that he would be pitching on the minor league side rather than against the San Diego Padres, and the homer prone southpaw struggled against Class A hitters. Lilly has allowed 60 home runs in the last two seasons, tied for second most in baseball during that span, and he allowed two more on Wednesday.

The very first pitch Lilly threw in the first inning was hit out of the park by Cleveland Indians minor leaguer LeVon Washington, a left-handed batter who was tabbed as the best athlete in the Indians system by Baseball America. Five batters later, in the second inning, catcher Alex Lavisky took Lilly deep as well. All in all, Lilly allowed six runs, four earned, in his five innings of work, with three walks and eight strikeouts.

Lilly definitely wasn't helped by his defense, as the four runs in the third inning could have all been unearned rather than just two of them. But still, Lilly wasn't sharp. "I was able to get some good work in. I didn't locate the ball nearly as well as I would have liked," he said.

"I threw predictable pitches, but the objective was still to locate the fastball. If I get that ball in, even if they are sitting heater, as most of them were, the execution will get a good result," said Lilly. "A lot of times on those first pitch or 1-0 fastballs, I was leaving it right over the plate right into the swing path."

Lilly next starts against the Padres in Peoria on Tuesday.

As for the game on the major league side, the Dodgers managed just five hits, two by Dee Gordon, and no runs. Te Padres rallied for three runs in the fifth inning to claim a 3-0 victory.

"I think they took today off, a day early,." Mattingly said of his offense. "We didn't even have a lot of chances."

Jamey Wright started for the Dodgers and pitched two clean frames, as he is one of many pitchers still vying for that final bullpen spot.

Up Next

The Dodgers are off tomorrow, their only off day of the Cactus League. On Friday the Dodgers have a split squad, with Aaron Harang starting in Surprise against the Kansas City Royals and Nathan Eovaldi starting in Tucson against the Chicago White Sox.

A gaggle of pitching prospects are scheduled to head to Tucson as well, with Zach Lee, Allen Webster, Chris Reed, Ethan Martin, Shawn Tolleson, and Angel Sanchez all slated to make the two-hour trip.

Today's Particulars

Home runs: None

WP - Tim Stauffer (1-1): 6 IP, 3 hits, 2 strikeouts

LP - Todd Coffey (0-1): 1 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk

Sv - Brad Boxberger (1): 1 IP, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts