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LOS ANGELES -- Howie Kendrick is back in the starting lineup, batting fourth for the Dodgers in their series opener against the Diamondbacks on Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
Kendrick jammed his left knee while sliding into third base in the second inning last Wednesday against the Rockies. Though he remained in the game that night and played the final seven innings, Kendrick missed the next three games with stiffness in the knee.
Three days of rest and ice did wonders for the knee, and though Kendrick was held out of the starting lineup for a fourth straight game on Sunday night he did enter the game on a double switch and played the final 2⅓ innings at second base.
Kendrick, whose last start was Wednesday, is hitting .284/.345/.428 with five home runs and 23 RBI in 53 games this season, and is tied with Jimmy Rollins for third on the team with 50 starts entering Monday.
Kendrick is 5-for-12 (.417) with a home run against Diamondbacks starter Rubby De La Rosa, though 0-for-3 with a strikeout this season. That home run came in 2011, when De La Rosa was a Dodger and Kendrick with the Angels.
Yasiel Puig sits for the Dodgers on Monday, presumably just a day of rest after playing the last four nights coming off a hamstring strain. Alex Guerrero starts in left field, with Andre Ethier moved back to right field.
This is Mike Bolsinger 's first start against the Diamondbacks, his former team, so it's understandable that he doesn't really have a track record against them. The only player on Arizona's roster to have faced Bolsinger is catcher Welington Castillo, who is 1-for-3 with a strikeout against him.
Castillo was acquired by the Diamondbacks in the six-player trade last week that sent Mark Trumbo to the Mariners.
Yasmany Tomas comes to town on a five-game hitting streak, hitting .474 (9-for-19) during that span. The power hasn't materialized yet with just one home run and seven doubles in 41 games and 150 plate appearances, though he is hitting .338/.373/.423 on the season, including .381 (32-for-84) in his last 21 games, dating back to May 13.