Some Tidbits from the Ravine

The Dodgers have returned to Southern California for three exhibition games in the area before heading out on the road to start the season, with Opening Day Monday in Pittsburgh. After a 6-3 loss last night at the Stadium to the Indians, they head down to Anaheim tonight to face the Angels at Angel Stadium, and then the two teams head back to the Dodger Stadium for an afternoon match-up tomorrow.

The roster is much more clearer today as we approach Monday. First, Joe Torre named Charlie Haeger the Dodgers fifth starter, and Blake DeWitt has been named the starting second baseman. Russell Martin has declared himself ready to go, so barring any last minute changes, it looks like he will be ready for Opening Day from his groin injury. The team also released longtime prospect Jason Repko two days ago.

As of right now, the Dodgers 25-man roster will probably look something like this on Monday:

Starting eight: Martin, James Loney, DeWitt, Rafael Furcal, Casey Blake, Manny, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier.

Bench: Brad Ausmus, Garrett Anderson, Jamey Carroll, Ronnie Belliard, Nick Green, Reed Johnson.

Rotation: Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, Hiroki Kuroda, Vicente Padilla, Haeger.

Bullpen: Jonathan Broxton, George Sherrill, Ramon Troncoso, Jeff Weaver, Carlos Monasterios, Ramon Ortiz.

Hong-Chih Kuo will start the season on the DL and Ronald Belisario is on the "Restricted List" and will likely start the season on extended Spring Training in the minors.

And It's A Winning Streak!

Knuckleballer Charlie Haeger stymied the Cubs all afternoon, and Matt Kemp and Casey Blake each hit solo homeruns to lead the Blue to their thrid straight win, 2-0. Haeger was masterful for seven innings, allowing no runs on just three hits with seven strikeouts.

In an unexpected move, and likely only a temporary one, Joe Torre opted to use Jonathan Broxton in the eighth inning today ahead of George Sherrill. Sherrill wound up pitching a perfect ninth inning for his first save as a Dodger.

The Blue momentarily up their lead in the West to five games over Colorado, and six over the Giants, who square off tonight in Denver. With a record now of 74-50, the Dodgers continue to maintain the best record in the NL.

The Dodgers get the benefit of a very favorable schedule the rest of the season. After tomorrow's series and season finale with the Cubs, where they can sweep the four game set with a win, the Dodgers play just two teams the rest of the way with better than .500 records: the Rockies and Giants, fittingly, the two teams chasing them in the division.

After a day off Monday, the Blue start a three-game series with those Rockies in Colorado, followed by three in Cincinnati. They then start a four-game homestand against Arizona to finish off the month of August and start off the final month of September. After that, they'll have six left with San Diego, three more in Arizona, six more with the Giants, seven with Pittsburgh (the only NL team they have yet to play this season), three in DC, and they finish up at home with three more against the Rockies.

So needless to say, winning the first three of this series with the Cubs could prove to be very pivotal in gaining some momentum heading into the final six weeks of the season with that favorable schedule.

As for tomorrow's game, Ryan Dempster (6-7, 4.28) will oppose Chad Billingsley (12-6, 3.70) at 1:10pm PT.

Good Start to Cubs Series

After winning last night, 7-2, with the help of a Russell Martin grand slam to break a 2-2 tie in the 6th inning, to start the four-game series out at the Ravine against the Cubs, Randy Wolf was a one-man wrecking machine again tonight, allowing just one hit and one run in seven innings, and driving in the Dodgers only two runs of the night in a 2-1 win, their second straight. (Wolf now has five RBI in his last two starts.) Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 27th save.

Also, there was a great catch in the 8th inning of this game as Cubs rookie Sam Fuld robbed Manny of a homerun leaping over the centerfield fence to make the catch.

With the win, the Dodgers bump their slim West lead back up to 4½ games over the Rockies, who lost at home to the Giants tonight. The Giants remain 5½ back. The Blue maintain the best record in the NL at 73-50.

Cubs send Ted Lilly to the bump tomorrow to oppose Dodger knuckleballer Charlie Haeger. Game is one of the Fox Game of the Week games, so an afternoon affair. A win tomorrow would give the Dodgers a much-needed winning streak.