Ready for this one? The last series didn’t matter as much, this one does. The Dodgers are 7 games back, but only 3.5 back of the Giants. If they can gain some ground this weekend, then they can at least be closer to the wild card. They need to at least hold steady until Mad Colletti can add Ted Lilly to the troop. The pitching is strong right now, but he would definitely help the back end of the rotation.

Here’s my take on the games.

Tonight, 7:15 pm Tim Lincecum vs. Carlos Monestarios

I have to again give it to the Freak.  He’s not looking totally sharp right now (on my fantasy team), but I still think he will manage the game better than Monestarios.

Saturday, 1pm Fox

Chad Billingsley vs Barry Zito

I give this one to Billingsley.  He is looking sharp right now.  Zito doesn’t look bad either, but I give Billingsley the edge.

Sunday, 5pm ESPN (Going to the game)

Clayton Kershaw vs. Matt Cain

I give this one to Kershaw.  Kershaw has been really sharp of late and he should be able to beat out “tough luck” Cain. 

As always, the bullpens will come into play, but I like the Dodgers chances this weekend.

As mentioned, I’ll be at the game at 5pm on Sunday.  They changed the time, so be aware of that.  If you want to meet up before the game, shoot me an e-mail at scott@sfdodgerfan.com.

Also, I will be in San Jose on Saturday, so if you want to meet at a restaurant to watch the game down there, again, shoot me an e-mail.

Go Blue.

Casey Blake - Jed Jacobsohn - Getty Images

Ahh, the Dodgers. How I do love thee, especially when you beat the Giants and I drive to work hearing the local talk shows whine and cry about how bad the Giants are. It is a beautiful day, no matter what the weather, one full of hope and joy, and great bragging….

Man I love living up here when the Dodgers beat the Giants. It’s hard to sum it up in words. I listened to the Murph and Mack show today, which I have come to really enjoy because they talk good baseball. Today, they were lamenting the loss last night…lamenting a lot. Got to love Manny being involved and then my boy Casey Blake hitting the homerun. Talk about Giant killers. Those guys just seem to come alive against the Giants.

The talk radio shows had quite the comments today. There was a Dodger fan who pointed out that the Giants just can’t beat a very flawed Dodger team. The Dodgers sat four of their starters and still came away with the win.

There was another fan who pointed out that ever since Renteria came back from the DL, that the Giants haven’t played as well. There is many a Giants fan who feels that Rowand, Renteria and Molina should all sit now and let the young guys get it done. It is too bad to see Molina not doing well. I respect a longtime Dodger killer, but he just doesn’t have it these days.

Also, there is great trepidation regarding Pablo Sandoval. He was the Giant Panda killer last year, but this year, he’s just another meal at Panda Express. People are eating him for lunch and he just seems to have lost his groove.

The best part of last night was the Dodgers bouncing back from the Yankees defeat. The Dodgers are now 19 and 5 against the National League West and seem to thrive against these teams.

We’ll see tonight as Cain may stop them cold, but one up is the way to start.

I’ve decided that when watching the Dodgers/Giants that you might as well wait until the 7th inning to really park yourself and watch the game. It doesn’t matter what day, whose pitching, or even the lineup, the score is usually close or tied until the 7th, and then the game is won. As long as the Dodgers do win it after the 7th (like last night), I don’t have any problems with the strategy. Go Blue.

Anybody got a coin going into this week? Should be a good series. The Giants are slightly ahead in the standings, but the Giants just lost 2 of 3 to the Red Sox and the Dodgers lost 2 of 3 to the Yankees.

My gut says the Dodgers should still take 2 of 3, because they seem to come alive against the Giants. But…and it’s a big but…the Dodgers lost last night to the Yankees with Jonathan Broxton.

If you’ve followed me for a while, you know that I personally believe the Dodgers should sit Broxton against the Giants. He has done decent this year against them, but in years past he has truly been the weak link. If he blew one yesterday (which he did), and he is overworked (which he is), then this could be the receipe for disaster.

Game 1 – Zito vs Billingsley.
Zito has slipped of late and Billingsley is coming fresh off the DL, so I give this one to Billingsley.

Game 2 – Ely vs Cain
I give this one to Cain. John Ely has been slipping of late and Cain always plays the Dodgers hard.

Game 3 – Padilla vs Sanchez
Padilla also is coming off the DL and did good against the Yankees. I give this one to Padilla.

So there you have it. I lean towards the Dodgers…unless they give the ball to Broxton. We’ll see. Go Blue

Casey Blake - LA Times

Yee Ha!  What a way to start.  Big wins are always fun…especially when you live up here.  Sadly I won’t be at work the next few days for the weekend, because it would have been really fun to talk about this game.

I’m making it official.  Casey Blake is my favorite player on the Dodgers right now.  If you’ve read this blog, you know I’ve been partial for a long time.  I like Manny and Loney and Pierre, but Blake just gets the job done.  He is a good guy and a great player.  Sometimes up, sometimes down, but he is clutch when they need it.  I’m glad to see his body seems to be ok after resting for a bit. 

My prediction rang true that the Dodgers would have the advantage, but it definitely wasn’t what I expected.  Matt Cain is a good pitcher and the Dodgers ate him up.  It’s interesting how Manny is just playing smart these days.  He’s hit a few homeruns of late, but he’s trying to hit to the right side and he was involved in driving in runs tonight.  I agree with people that something seems a little off, but he’s a good enough player that he’s still contributing.

It was great to see Loney playing well too.  He has a sweet swing.  I still think he’ll win the batting title some day, but he when he connects, man does he drive it.

We saw history tonight too.  Buster Posey is the Giants true catching prospect, and he made is major league debut.  They’ve been talking about this guy for weeks as he just tore up the minors this year.  What was interesting was that they’ve had him in the majors for almost a week and he hasn’t been in a game.  Bruce Bochy said he was waiting for the right time, but it was weird that they waited so long.  I guess that being down 7-1 was long enough.  Based on his stats we’ll be seeing a lot of him, and he seems to be the heir apparent for Bengie Molina.

It was real interesting reading the local papers today to see what they said about the series this weekend.  What was interesting was that there wasn’t a lot to read.  The Giants are on the cusp of not making the playoffs and everyone knows the Dodgers are better, they just hope they can stay close to still catch the Rockies.  The Giants are playing the Dodgers this weekend, but the focus is the next series with the Rockies.  As a Dodgerfan, I wanted the big story on how important this series is…but none of that was there.  The focus was Tim Lincecum’s back, Buster Posey being in the bigs, and the hope to catch the Rockies.

Bring on tomorrow and Sunday.  If anyone is going to the game on Sunday, let me know and we can meet up.  The Willie McCovey statue might be a good place before the game.  E-mail me at scott@sfdodgerfan.com.

Go Dodgers.

Here’s the pitching match ups for the 3 games:

Friday
Hiroki Kuroda, RHP (5-6, 4.15)
Matt Cain, RHP (13-4, 2.51)

Saturday
Vicente Padilla, RHP (10-6, 4.63)
Jonathan Sanchez, LHP (6-11, 4.03)

Sunday
Chad Billingsley, RHP (12-9, 3.93)
Brad Penny, RHP (9-8, 5.15)

Learned something new tonight – The Dodgers have a great probable pitchers write up that gives a great comparison of each of these pitchers.  (Click Here)  It’s a good write up on their recent performance, but it stays nuetral on who will win….

I won’t stay neutral.  Here’s my picks.

Friday – Advantage Dodgers.  Matt Cain will out pitch Kuroda, but as always, the Dodgers will break it open against the bullpen.

Saturday – Advantage Dodgers.  I think Padilla can beat out Sanchez.  Sanchez is pitching well of late though.

Sunday – I hate to say it since I’ll be there, but Advantage Giants.  Billingsley just doesn’t seem to have it right now, and Penny is a man on a mission to stick it to the Dodgers.

Bottom line – they will be close…especially if Broxton does the closing.  The Dodgers again need to take 2 of 3 to stay on top and show who should take the division.  The Dodgers were fortunate not to face Lincecum this series.  That is the big concern up here is whether his back will be ok.  He is their Ace and they want him back.  There were even conspiracy theories up here that he was kept out a game to set him up against the Rockies on Monday.  It doesn’t ring true though because they need him to win every game he can…not sit on the bench.

I was hoping for a Padilla/Penny matchup to see if my brawl prediction comes through, but it could still happen.  If Padilla brushes someone back, Penny may try to finish it off the next day.  I should have plenty to write about if their is a brawl when I’m there on Sunday.

Keep coming back – more to come each day of the series.