The amazing road winning streak of the Dodgers ended at 15 on Tuesday night, as another solid start by Clayton Kershaw wasn't enough to overcome grounding into four double plays in losing to the Cardinals, 5-1. The Diamondbacks easily defeated the Rays, so the Dodgers' lead in the NL West is back down to five.
Despite the loss, there was somewhat of a silver lining. Hanley Ramirez's jammed shoulder continues to feel better each day, so there is no MRI scheduled as of yet. Because of his improvement, he's considered day-to-day.
That has to be music to Don Mattingly's ears. Heck, it's music to all of our ears. There simply is no way of replacing a guy like Ramirez. Couple the fact that Matt Kemp remains out with a bad ankle, and that's a lot of offensive production sitting on the bench eating sunflower seeds during the games.
What would be ideal is if Ramirez can return for the three-game set at home against the Rays this weekend. There's still a couple of games left against the Cardinals as well, but reading between the lines, I'm not sure if he'll be available for those. But I'll be happy to be wrong.
Mattingly also gave a brief update on Kemp, only saying that's he's progressing well and hopes to be back soon. About a week ago it was reported that we shouldn't expect to see Kemp back until September, so take this new news for what it's worth.
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