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Time for a change. We owned the Rockies last year, and they took two of three from us to start the season. The Dodgers rolled over us in the second-half, taking seven of the final eight games, and that was the National League West. Time to flip that around, and who better to turn over a new leaf than our new starting pitcher, Jon Garland? He'll be making his first major-league start for the Diamondbacks, and it's going to be a key test of what to expect from his as a pitcher.
Even though he's a transplant from the American League, a number of the Dodgers have got a good bit of history against him. Leading the list are Doug Mientkiewicz and Casey Blake, each with 40 at-bats and eleven hits off Garland. Orlando Hudson also has some history, going 8-for-21, though the last time they faced off was back in 2005. The monster in the (batter's) box, however is - probably inevitably - Mandy. In 34 plate-appearances, Ramirez is hitting .520 /647/1.040, including a streak of eleven PAs from 2000-2005 where he reached safely ten times. I hope Garland has something new up his sleeve for tonight.
Meanwhile, James McDonald is the Los Angeles equivalent of our Leyson Septimo - a converted position player. Except in McDonald's case, it seems even weirder: looking at his minor-league stats, it looks like he was a pitcher in 2003, tried his hand as an outfielder in 2004 and 2005, and then went back to pitching in 2006., and now finds himself with a rotation spot only three years later His father - also called James - played in the NFL for the Rams in the mid-1980's, and McDonald's change-up has been described as 'superb'. Hmm: between that and a mid-90's fastball, McDonald sounds like the kind of rookie pitcher against whom we have a nasty habit of sucking.
Still, hope springs eternal, and I expect the line-up to be stacked with left-handers, lining up to take a whack at the n00b. Apparently, the roof at Chase is going to remain closed tonight, due to the 'threat of wind.' Just as long as it's not created by the fabulous windmill of Miguel Montero's slashing at pitches around his throat. Should be about for most of this, so see you in the comments. Lineups to follow nearer first-pitch.
Lineup
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F. Lopez 2b -
E. Byrnes rf -
S. Drew ss -
C. Jackson lf -
C. Tracy 1b -
M. Reynolds 3b -
C. Young cf -
C. Snyder c -
J. Garland p