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These are trying times for the Dodgers. The Dodgers place yet another player on the 15-day disabled list as they continue their weekend series against one of the better National League teams in the St. Louis Cardinals.
"I've had better days," Dodgers' manager Don Mattingly told reporters before the game.
After Tyler Greene slid hard into second baseman Mark Ellis in Friday's game to avoid the double play in the seventh inning, X-rays that were taken immediately after Friday's game came out negative.
Things took a turn for the worse for Ellis early Saturday when he had to undergo urgent a fasciotomy to relieve the pressure in his left leg (Google that on your own peril). He will remain in the hospital until Tuesday. The best possible scenario is Ellis will be out for at least six weeks. The worst case scenario is that Ellis has permanent muscle damage.
Ivan De Jesus, the final infielder on the 40-man roster, will be coming up from Triple-A Albuquerque.
With Matt Kemp out, Jerry Hairston, Juan Uribe, Juan Rivera, Matt Guerrier and now Ellis out, the Dodgers managed to continue to hold it together. The Dodgers continued to charge ahead beating the Cardinals 6-0.
"I expect to win everyday," Mattingly said after the game. "Whatever lineup I put out there, I expect to win. That's the way our team looks at it. We've got to find a way to win a game somehow someway."
After Bobby Abreu walked and Andre Ethier hit a ground-rule double to get runners on second and third base to lead off the fourth inning, Adam Kennedy culminated a seven-pitch at-bat with a hard chopper to first baseman Matt Carpenter. The ball ate up Carpenter caroming into shallow right field allowing Abreu and Ethier to score for the 2-0 lead.
To be fair to Carpenter, he came in to replace Lance Berkman in the third inning. Berkman collapsed onto the infield dirt in pain after retiring Justin Sellers to end the second inning. He left the game with a right knee injury and will be reexamined over the next 24 hours.
Just to eliminate any doubt in the game, the Dodgers went on another rally in the seventh inning that started out with a one-out homer by Justin Sellers, the first this season and the second of his career.
"Just trying to get a good swing on it," Sellers said.
Kershaw doubled, surprisingly his first extra-base hit of his career, Gwynn singled, Elian Herrera grounded out, Abreu walked and Ethier singled. Soon it was a 6-0 game.
"We're getting hits from different people. We're chipping away. We keep giving ourselves opportunities, getting chances to score runs."
Of course when you have the reigning Cy Young Award winner on the mound, you would figure the baseball gods will smile on you more often than not. All Kershaw did was shutout the Cardinals, his fourth shutout of his career.
"First couple of innings they were hitting the ball hard so I made some adjustments," Kershaw commented noting the several fly balls in the first two innings.
Even Mattingly was getting ready to comment on them before he caught himself.
"Early on he was... What are you going to do? He still shut out the Cardinals, a pretty good hitting club."
A.J. Ellis has reached base safely in 28 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the Majors. The Dodgers at 27-13 have the best record in the Majors. So while things may not be all roses for them, they continue to do well where it counts.
