2015-05-04 Dodgers (Kershaw) at Brewers (Lohse), 6:20 PM CDT [Brewers win, 4-3]

[TooLiveBrew]

[igt-2012][game-setup][logo]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20589901/BrewerFan/2014/logos/dodgers.png[/logo][game-info][h1]May 4 | 6:20 P.M.[/h1][h2]Dodgers (16-8) | Brewers (7-18)[/h2][h3]FSWI | WTMJ 620[/h3][/game-info][logo]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20589901/BrewerFan/2014/logos/brewers.png[/logo][/game-setup][pitching-photos]http://i.imgur.com/IDxq5gP.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/hBISj4E.jpg[/pitching-photos][game-matchup][divclass=away][pitcher]Clayton Kershaw[/pitcher][h2]1-2, 3.73 ERA, 1.24 WHIP[/h2][h3]Versus Brewers | Game Log[/h3][h3]Kershaw gave up another home run, this time to Buster Posey, but the ace got through seven innings without a walk against the Giants and pitched well enough to deserve a win.[/h3][/divclass][divclass=home][pitcher]Kyle Lohse[/pitcher][h2]1-4, 7.28 ERA, 1.31 WHIP[/h2][h3]Versus Dodgers | Game Log[/h3][h3]Lohse still hasn't rounded into form, but appears to be getting closer after lasting seven innings in each of his last two starts. He surrendered three home runs to the Reds on Tuesday, but limited the damage to four runs.[/h3][/divclass][starting-lineup][divclass=away]

1. CF Joc Pederson (L)
   
2. SS Jimmy Rollins (S)
   
3. 2B Howie Kendrick ®
   
4. 1B Adrian Gonzalez (L)
   
5. LF Scott Van Slyke ®
   
6. RF Andre Ethier (L)
   
7. C Yasmani Grandal (S)
   
8. 3B Juan Uribe ®
   
9. LHP Clayton Kershaw (L)

[/divclass][divclass=home]

1. CF Carlos Gómez ®
   
2. 1B Jason Rogers ®
   
3. RF Ryan Braun ®
   
4. 3B Aramis Ramírez ®
   
5. LF Khris Davis ®
   
6. C Martín Maldonado ®
   
7. 2B Elián Herrera (S)
   
8. SS Héctor Gómez ®
   
9. RHP Kyle Lohse ®

[/divclass][/starting-lineup][/game-matchup][game-links][h3][chat]BrewerFan Chat[/chat] | MLB Gameday[/h3][/game-links][/igt-2012]

[TooLiveBrew]

Kershaw, Lohse set to battle in series-opener

By Earl Bloom / Special to MLB.com | 5/3/2015 6:17 PM ET

 

Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw opposes Brewers right-hander Kyle Lohse on Monday night at Miller Park as the teams open a four-game series.

 

Each pitcher is seeking his second 2015 victory.

 

Kershaw, coming off his National League MVP and Cy Young season, is 1-2 with a 3.73 ERA though his first five starts this season. Kershaw is 5-4 with a 3.05 ERA in 10 career games (all starts) against the Brewers. He's struck out 66 in 65 innings.

 

Lohse, like many of the Brewers, struggled out of the gate. He's 1-4 with a 7.28 ERA thought five starts. But he's pitched seven innings in each of his past two starts, including his lone victory April 23 against Cincinnati, when he allowed just two earned runs. In his career against the Dodgers, Lohse is 2-4 with a 4.35 ERA in 12 games (10 starts).

 

Three things to know:

 

• Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is hitting .385 vs Lohse (10-for-26, two home runs). Lohse, however, is a difficult matchup for shortstop Jimmy Rollins (.196, 9-for-46, two homers) and third baseman Juan Uribe (.174, 4-for-23).

 

• Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun is hitting .300 (10-for-30), with one home run, vs. Kershaw. Former D-backs outfielder Gerardo Parra is at .346 (9-for-26) against the Dodgers' ace. Milwaukee hitters who struggle against Kershaw include shortstop Jean Segura (2-for-10) and outfielder Khris Davis (1-for-8).

 

• The last time Kershaw pitched in Milwaukee was Aug. 10, 2014. He went eight innings in a 14-2 Dodgers victory. Braun had two of the six hits Kershaw allowed.

[TooLiveBrew]

The game preview 'articles' this year are really bad. Lacking in length, content, & quality.

[adamb100]

ESPN's preview is a bit better:

 

The Milwaukee Brewers' slow start cost manager Ron Roenicke his job. Jump-starting their season doesn't figure to be any easier against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday as Clayton Kershaw tries to extend his dominance at Miller Park while moving on from his own early season woes.

 

Despite winning back-to-back games for the first time this year after Sunday's 5-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs, the Brewers (7-18) fired Roenicke, who led them to the 2011 NL Central title in his first season. He had a winning record in three of his four full seasons in Milwaukee, but the team's fade after entering last July with a 6 1/2-game lead atop the division and early season struggles proved too much to ignore.

 

"This has been a difficult start to the season, something that we certainly didn't anticipate," general manager Doug Melvin said in a statement. "Over roughly the last 100 games, we have not performed at the level that we should. It's all about wins and losses, and after the first month of play this year we didn't see the progress and improvement we had hoped for."

 

Melvin said the team would announce its next manager prior to Monday's game.

 

Kershaw (1-2, 3.73 ERA), the two-time reigning NL Cy Young Award winner and 2014 NL MVP winner, may not give the Brewers a chance to make any progress as he looks to find his groove. He had a 5.46 ERA through his first five outings of 2009 before finding his groove that season to begin a six-year run of sub-3.00 ERAs.

 

His first of four straight ERA titles started when he won his first Cy Young in 2011, and he put together the best campaign of his career in 2014 while going 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA for his third.

 

The left-hander hasn't been as dominant this season, though. After pitching fewer than seven innings in five of his 27 starts last year, Kershaw failed to reach the seven-inning mark in his first four outings.

 

He allowed two runs and struck out eight in seven innings of a 2-1 loss to San Francisco on Tuesday.

 

"I had a little better command of everything," said Kershaw, who's one win shy of 100. "The slider is just a little bit better, but not where I want it. Some good, some bad."

 

Kershaw has been very good in his career at Miller Park, winning all four starts while posting a 0.87 ERA. He's opposed Kyle Lohse three times in his career, with Lohse taking the loss each time.

 

Lohse (1-4, 7.28) is 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his last three starts against the Dodgers (16-8), a stretch that includes a 2-0 loss to Kershaw on April 28, 2013, when they last faced each other.

 

Lohse, though, has allowed at least four runs in four of his five starts this season. The right-hander gave up four on three homers over seven innings of Tuesday's 4-2 loss to Cincinnati.

 

Jean Segura's status is unclear after he was hit on the helmet with a pitch in the eighth. He tried to remain in the game, but Roenicke said the Brewers shortstop was feeling nauseous.

 

"You hope a guy doesn't get a little tentative in what he's doing," Roenicke said. "You hope it doesn't start to bother him."

 

Aramis Ramirez is 8 for 16 with two homers while hitting safely in his last five games.

 

The Dodgers scored 21 runs while winning their previous three before Yasmani Grandal's homer leading off the 13th gave them a 1-0 win over Arizona on Sunday. The catcher also threw out a runner at the plate after a wild pitch to end the top of the 13th, helping the bullpen extend its scoreless-inning streak to 26.

 

"After the second game of the season, there were a lot of people who said the bullpen wasn't good enough, Grandal said. "That bothered me a lot. Lately it's been lights-out."

 

Los Angeles, which is beginning a seven-game road trip, has won five of its last six against the Brewers.

[TooLiveBrew]

That's a *lot* better; thanks for posting, Adam!

[pacopete4]

It'll be interesting to see what the lineup looks like and so forth with a new manager. Interested to see if he has different ideas for where people should be placed. Not that it makes too much of a difference.

[jerichoholicninja]

It'll be interesting to see what the lineup looks like and so forth with a new manager. Interested to see if he has different ideas for where people should be placed. Not that it makes too much of a difference.

 

I doubt will change much at all. There is no "true leadoff" hitter on the roster and the guys who you expect to hit for power have been pretty putrid all year. Maybe he'll hit the pitcher 8th. Brewer fans heads might explode then.

[dlk9s]

Counsell said things like lineup changes are overrated (and I agree), so I wouldn't expect anything big. He said his job is to get the most out of his players. Don't know how one does that, exactly, but hey, I wish him the best of luck.

[TooLiveBrew]

Counsell said things like lineup changes are overrated (and I agree), so I wouldn't expect anything big. He said his job is to get the most out of his players. Don't know how one does that, exactly, but hey, I wish him the best of luck.

You see, what you do is... you just get the best out of them. You're all like, "Hey -- you over there! Gonna need your best today." And the other guy's all like, "Man, I really gotta give my best today."

 

Simple.

[Craigilicious]

"Hey, can you play a little better, please?"

 

"Sure thing, Skip!"

 

Next stop: World Series

[TooLiveBrew]

"Hey, can you play a little better, please?"

 

"Sure thing, Skip!"

 

Next stop: World Series

BOOM. This guy right here gets it.

 

W-L WOAH SOLVVD

[TURBO]

No more RRR post-games... That in itself is a reason to celebrate!

[Bombers]

With no Lucroy, Segura, Scooter and us facing a lefty so no Lind, we get:

1. Gomez

2. Rogers - 1B

3. Braun

4. Ramirez

5. Davis

6. Maldanado

7. Herrera - 2B

8. Gomez - SS

[igor67]

I think it would be a great joke if they all came out tonight and tried to mimic Counsel's stance for an AB.

[Bombers]

I think it would be a great joke if they all came out tonight and tried to mimic Counsel's stance for an AB.

Lets not get crazy ... how about we hope CarGo does this on the first pitch. That would be pretty funny. CarGo did play with Counsell for 2 years.

[pacopete4]

Love Rogers hitting second. Get this guy some AB's!

[trwi7]

What's up with the stupid 6 pm start times during the week?

[TooLiveBrew]

Ha! Gotta love that the manager was out shagging flies in BP today. Have to say I've never seen that before.

[TooLiveBrew]

Man, Luc cannot get back fast enough. That 5-8 in our lineup is absolutely brutal.

[yfinn6]

Welcome to managing, Craig. He honestly looks like a little boy in the dugout, haha.

[AZBrewCrew]

Well Loshe isnt helping his trade value...

[TooLiveBrew]

Well Loshe isnt helping his trade value...

Maybe he's lobbying for a trade to the Dodgers!

[Lee16]

Down 1-0 already?

 

#firecounsell

[trwi7]

There is like nobody there right now.

[stoutdude04]

There is like nobody there right now.

 

I went to a monday night game a few weeks ago and it was the same thing then. No one there but then attendance was still 27k. I was surprised.