Editorials

LA v SD pre-game: Two new starters on the mound

San Diego Padres (2-6) at Los Angeles Dodgers (7-1)
6:10 PM PST, April 14, 2012
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California
TV: Prime Ticket
Radio: 570 AM (English), 1020 AM (Spanish)
Promotion: Dodger Stadium replica
Weather: 57 degrees, partly cloudy

Padres Projected Starters:
P: 
Joe Wieland
C: 
Nick Hundley
1B: Yonder Alonso
2B: Orlando Hudson
SS: Jason Bartlett
3B: Chase Headley
LF: Jesus Guzman
CF: Cameron Maybin
RF: Will Venable



Key Bench Players: OF Will Venable, IF Andy Parrino

For more information on the Padres, check out our pre-series report.

Dodgers Last 10: (7-1): W vs SD, W vs PIT, W vs PIT, W vs PIT, L @ SD, W @ SD, W @ SD, W @ SD
Padres Last 10:
 (2-6): L vs SD, L vs ARI, W vs ARI, L vs ARI, L vs LA, W vs LA, L vs LA, L vs LA

Fun Facts:

  • San Diego’s Joe Wieland will be making his first major league start when he takes the mound Saturday night. Wieland was acquired last season when the Padres sent Mike Adams to Texas, and began the season as the Padres number eight prospect. Having pitched just 7 2/3 innings under his belt in AAA, Wieland is a general unknown, however, the 22-year-old had a sub-three ERA at AA last season.
  • Ted Lilly will also be making his first start of the season for the Dodgers after recovering from a neck injury suffered this spring.
  • Lilly was 4-1 against San Diego last season, while the Dodgers were 5-1 in his six starts. In all six starts, Lilly allowed two or fewer earned runs.

Keys to a Dodger Victory:

Pick up where you left off
In 11 starts in August and September of last season, Ted Lilly boasted an ERA of 2.08, striking out 64 batters in 69 innings. In three starts this spring, however, Lilly had an ERA of 5.00. The good news is that Lilly has been bad in spring training almost every year of his career, so let’s hope he picks up where he left off in September.

 Juan OOOOHHHHHREEEEEBAYYYY
With the right-handed Wieland on the mound, the Dodgers will look for continued strong play from Uribe. While he is just 1-for-10 against lefties, Uribe leads the Dodgers with a .313 average (5-for-16) against right handed pitchers.

Keep getting on base
While A.J. Ellis’ .238 average might lead you to believe he’s off to a rough start, Ellis is doing exactly what the team wants – getting on base. Despite Matt Kemp’s .419 average, it is Ellis who leads the team in on base percentage, at .385 thanks to a team-high five walks.

Best-Case Prediction: Dodgers 7, Padres 0
Worst-Case:
 Padres 5, Dodgers 1

Staff Writer

Staff Writer features content written by our site editors along with our staff of contributing writers. Thank you for your readership.

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