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MINNEAPOLIS -- The Dodgers made official their decision to start Red Patterson in the second game of their doubleheader on Thursday evening against the Twins, adding him as their 26th man on the active roster for the twinbill.
To make room for Patterson on the 40-man roster, outfielder Nick Buss was designated for assignment. Buss, 27, was hitting .261/.330/.391 with three doubles, three triples and a home run in 26 games for the Isotopes.
Patterson, who turns 27 in 10 days, was 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA with four starts for Triple-A Albuquerque. He was scratched from his Tuesday start for the Isotopes, but even as late as Wednesday night there was some question as to whether Patterson would start for the Dodgers on Thursday, as the right-hander reportedly had the flu.
The nightcap of the doubleheader will mark Patterson's major league debut. At 26 years, 355 days old, Patterson will be the oldest non-Japanese Dodgers starting pitcher to make his major league debut since Larry Miller, who was 27 years, two days old on June 21, 1964, also in the second game of a doubleheader.
Patterson, who wore uniform number 78 during spring training, will wear No. 51 today with the Dodgers.
In Game 1 of the day-night doubleheader, Dan Haren gets the start, looking for his fifth quality start in six tries. After his last start, a week ago against the Phillies, Haren said, "I can't afford to walk people, I just can't."
This was after two walks in six innings against Philadelphia, and one of the walks was intentional. Haren has three unintentional walks this season to go with 27 strikeouts.
The Dodgers just have a few changes to their lineup from Wednesday. For one, Miguel Olivo makes his Dodgers debut behind the plate one day after getting called up from Albuquerque. Also, a Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier swapped positions, with Kemp the designated hitter and Ethier playing center field in the twinbill opener.