Tonight's lineup: Ausmus bats eighth
Everybody else from 6-8 moved up a spot from 5-7, meaning Ethier and Loney are now two LH hitters going back to back in the Dodgers' lineup. That could prove problematic given that the D-Backs have TWO lefties in their pen in Doug Slaten and Scott Schoeneweis, but we'll see. What it does on the positive side is give Casey Blake a chance to get out of the eight hole. if only for a night. He is batting .077. More specifically, he is 1 for 13 (a home run) with seven strikeouts in 16 plate appearances. The eight hole isn't an easy spot to hit in because the pitcher hitting behind you usually offers NO protection whatsoever. Blake hit there eight times after the Dodgers got him from Cleveland last year batted a solid .320 (8 for 25) with a home run, but he also struck out eight times in those 25 ABs. Before that, he spent his entire career in the A.L., so it didn't matter.
SS Furcal
2B Hudson
LF Ramirez
RF Ethier
1B Loney
CF Kemp
3B Blake
C Ausmus
RH McDonald
Don't know whey Loney and Kemp are lined up in that order. Kemp should be batting 5th permanently. He's too good of a slugger as his performance thus far has shown.