Game 74 Thread: June 23 @ Padres, 1p

Chris Capuano (2-4, 4.62) vs. Andrew Cashner (5-3, 3.56).

Sure, let's put the guy recently returned from the DL, who just got a gritty 6-0 win against the Yankees, in to start against a division rival! And let's increase the degree of difficulty further, by starting him on three days' rest! Yep, this one may not work for ol' Cap here:

It will be the first time Capuano will be pitching on three days' rest since 2005, before he underwent two Tommy John surgeries.

He's also been on the disabled list twice this year -- in April for a strained calf muscle and most recently with a strained lat muscle.

"Obviously, there's a sense of urgency there," Mattingly said of Capuano offering to pitch. "He sees we're not putting wins on the board, and he want to change it. I like the fact he wants to do it. I still wouldn't do it unless everybody thought it was OK and everybody checked off."

Capuano came off the DL to start Wednesday against the Yankees, throwing six scoreless innings and feeling well enough after making 83 pitches to volunteer to pitch Sunday.

"I felt like he was our best chance," Mattingly said of the Capuano decision. "From the day he pitched the other day, he felt it was one of his easiest starts. If we called somebody up and got five innings, we'd have been happy. We're confident we're not taking any chances with him. He's confident we're not taking any chances.

"For me, I was a little bit leery about it. Rick [Honeycutt, pitching coach] said he doesn't feel like we're taking any chances. I was worried about the elbow, but [Capuano] said he's not worried one bit."

So Capuano isn't worried, and Mattingly and Honeycutt agree that this isn't taking a chance at all. Oh, and about that last time he went on three days' rest (October 2, 2005, trying to squeeze in one last start before the end of the year)? Capuano went 5.1 IP and gave up 3 ER in the loss to Pittsburgh.

Look, the Dodgers haven't won two in a row since June 7 vs. Atlanta. Seems like an awfully weird time for us to throw the Cap dice. But at this stage, I suppose, what could possibly go wrong?

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