Tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET the Los Angeles Dodgers (25-23) will try to continue their winning ways vs. the NL East when they open up a three-game set in Citizen's Bank Ballpark against the Philadelphia Phillies (20-24). Live stream the matchup by clicking this link; Dodgers fans can find the radio broadcast on 570 Fox Sports LA, while Phillies fans may do the same by tuning in to 1210 WPHT. L.A. will toss ace lefty Clayton Kershaw (2-1, 4.43 ERA) out on the mound against Roberto Hernandez (2-1, 3.98 ERA).
The Phillies figure to be getting an angry Kershaw tonight, after he was torched for seven runs in the second inning of his last start, leaving the game before it was over.
"It's definitely kind of shocking whenever he has an inning like that," manager Don Mattingly said. "You're kind of expecting him to go seven or eight and give up two or three runs or less. If you can score, you have a good chance of winning. This was definitely not the norm for us with him."
Kershaw was hard on himself following the poor outing. "You are allowed to have bad days, but those have to be salvaged and you got to save your bullpen, at least try to get through five or six on bad days," the ace told MLB.com. "You are allowed to (have bad days), but not like this."
He is coming off back-to-back Cy Young campaigns, but has yet to find a real groove after an early season stint on the disabled list. Luckily he has a potent offense behind him, led by outfielder Yasiel Puig. Mattingly would hope that Puig can play a little smarter than he did one night ago, however, when baserunning blunders helped cost the Dodgers a sweep.
"Being Yasiel's on the aggressive end, I think what we see is a great player," Mattingly said. "On the other (hand), I think we just have to be a little bit more cautious."
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