Tuesday’s Lineups and Pre-Gamer: Matt Kemp Returns for the Dodgers

The Dodgers broke the Giants five-game winning streak against LA on Monday and now bring back their guy in center field, Matt Kemp, who hasn’t played since May 29th. He and his pals will be squaring off against Mike Kickham, whom will be making his second career MLB start, his first being a forgettable experience in Oakland. Here’s who the rookie will be throwing against tonight:

#Dodgers lineup vs. #SFGiants:
M Ellis 2B
Puig LF
Gonzalez 1B
Ramirez SS
Kemp CF
Ethier RF
Federowicz C
Punto 3B
Fife P
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) June 25, 2013

May 26, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp (27) pinch hit into a double play in the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium. Cardinals won 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Kickham’s fastball will be in the low-90’s, slider and change in the low-mid 80’s, and the curve in the high 70’s. His last start against Reno was a good one, going almost eight innings, a little over one baserunner per inning. That start came after a three game stretch where runs were being scored off of him and he allowed a homer in each game.

RHP Stephen Fife, though a lesser known name, has been good enough for the Dodgers in his four June starts, always going at least five innings, for the month has 22 K’s in 23 IP, but he hasn’t been invincible by any means: .270/.330/.414 against with a 1.35 WHIP and .339 BABIP. You look at what Fife throws, and he will use his fastball in all situations, a little less against RHH when he’s ahead where he’ll amp up the use of his curveball. His average fastball sits around 90.

Here’s who Fife will face:

Tonight's #SFGiants lineup: Blanco cf, Scutaro 2b, Posey c, Sandoval 3b, Pence rf, Belt 1b, Torres lf, Crawford ss, Kickham p
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 25, 2013

Pablo Sandoval moves up to the four spot, Brandon Belt to the sixth. Bruce Bochy did some radio interviews today, and reiterated some things we had a good idea of:

Bochy, #SFGiants need to add an OF?: Fair to say, if we can get a bat, this trip is critical, bullpen place we're trying to get better too
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) June 25, 2013

On the outfield, keep in mind Andres Torres has a better bat than Juan Perez does:

Bochy on OF: plan is Blanco in CF, Perez and Torres in LF, Torres will get most of playing time, go with whoever swinging the bat #SFGiants
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) June 25, 2013

And on Yasiel Puig, whom I think will be elected by the players or the MLB Final Vote:

Bochy on Puig: "Gifted athlete, Bo Jackson type player".........On ASG: "As well as he's doing, it's such a small sample" #SFGiants #Dodgers
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) June 25, 2013

Chad Gaudin rules himself healthy to return when his 15-day DL stint is done:

Gaudin said he feels much better, expects to be back when eligible after 15 days.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) June 25, 2013

Angel Pagan had a successful surgery, per his wife:

Just about time for the College World Series to get going on ESPN and a possible Giants signee will be on the mound for UCLA:

@hankschulman Hey Hank, Nick Vander Tuig Giants 6th round pick starting for UCLA in tonights CWS final on ESPN, in case followers interested
— Sara Anderson (@saras_tweets) June 25, 2013

Prospect news coming out of Richmond, the Giants Double-A affiliate:

#SFGiants trying to make Duvall more versatile is the reason for the start at 1B. We'll see a bit of this going forward, but still mostly 3B
— Jon Laaser (@LazeVT) June 25, 2013

Adam Duvall was the kid that had 52 home runs across Augusta and San Jose the last two years, but the 24 year old (25 in September) has only 7 right now. The question mark on Duvall is not the bat, but the glove.

Game time is scheduled for 7:10 PM PST.

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