Guard Changing Rapidly, Donnie Next?

From this morning:
Dodgers fire bench coach Trey Hillman (LAT)

From last night:
Sue Falsone will not return as Dodgers' head trainer (LAT)

The story is developing at faster-than-Twitter-can-keep-up-with speed, but all signs are pointing to Don Mattingly exiting. Stay tuned!

Post-Game 122 Thread: Sunday Bloody Sun-Day

A glimpse into Jason Heyward's nightmares tonight.

DODGERS 5, BRAVES 0

Today's game had the earmarks of a Dodgers performance you'd like to forget: Matt Kemp, Hanley Ramirez and Andre Ethier combined to go 0 for 13, and the Dodgers stranded eight men, leaving the bases loaded in the third and eighth innings.

But! The Dodgers got contributions from other parts of the lineup:

• Chad Billingsley continued to go all BEARD MODE, pitching seven innings of three-hit, scoreless ball. He's won a career-high six straight and is acting like that dependable Number Two everyone's been expecting him to be.
  
• The bottom third of the order killed it, going 7 for 10, led by a clutch solo homer in the fifth by Luis Cruz, who's now homered in consecutive games. As for his leg: "Cruz had a cramp and expects to play Monday," tweets Ken Gurnick.
  
• In the eighth, interim manager Trey Hillman (2-0) called a ballsy hit-and-run play with Juan Uribe (!) at first and Shane Victorino at the plate. Uribe eventually scored, thanks to Jason Heyward (see below).
  
• After wasting earlier opportunities, Mark Ellis finally broke the game open with a bases-clearing double in the ninth.
  
• Heyward lost not one, but two high fly balls in the sun, both times eventually leading to Dodgers runs.

Can you imagine what would happen if everybody showed up on the same day? Hopefully we'll find out what that's like during the upcoming stretch run. Dodgers complete a successful 7-3 road trip (their third this season) and return to Dodger Stadium tomorrow locked and loaded to take on the Giants!

Post-Game 121 Thread: Slugging Percentage

DODGERS 6, BRAVES 2

This game got off to an ugly start: Aaron Harang walked three and gave up a double in the first inning, yet somehow escaped by giving up only one run.

Then things got weird. Hanley Ramirez hit a solo home run off Ben Sheets. Okay, great news, but hardly a shock.

Then James Loney homered. Sure, he homered two days ago against the Pirates, but this was still unexpected.

Then Luis Cruz homered. That right: four pitches, three homers. Perhaps conscious of the backlash against Hanley's "I see you" gag on the road, Cruz attempted a half-hearted goggles gesture upon crossing home plate but quickly put it away, smiling sheepishly. It was a great character moment for an unlikely contributor.

In the sixth, Hanley put it away with a three-run homer. The Dodgers had four hits today; all four were home runs.

Harang made it stand up, scattering four hits and eight strikeouts (and five walks) over 6 2/3 innings. Interim manager Trey Hillman put his stamp on the game, removing Javy Guerra mid-count in the eighth in favor of Shawn Tolleson. But it all worked out, with Kenley Jansen getting four outs (and giving up a meaningless homer) to end it.

Dodgers ensure a winning road trip (6-3) with one more to go tomorrow. Unfortunately the Padres folded again for the Giants, so the Dodgers are still in second place by half a game. Morning baseball tomorrow!

1, 2 & 4: Scott Cunningham/Getty Images