I’m going to put this out there right now: no matter how many games the Dodgers play for the rest of their existence, you will never, ever see this exact lineup (even just 1-8) put together again:

1) Aaron Miles 3B
2) Ivan DeJesus 2B
3) Andre Ethier RF
4) Matt Kemp CF
5) James Loney 1B
6) Hector Gimenez C
7) Xavier Paul LF
8) Jamey Carroll SS
9) Ted Lilly P

Bask in it for a moment, would you? You’ve got Hector Gimenez, making his first career start despite making his MLB debut six years ago. You’ve got Ivan DeJesus making his second career start, and only because Juan Uribe‘s not yet ready to return. You’ve got Xavier Paul, the third different left fielder in three games. And best of all, you’ve got Aaron Miles – .311 OBP in 2010, .322 career – leading off, while Jamey Carroll – .379 in 2010, .355 career – hits 8th. Because of course he is.

I’m mostly being facetious here, because the first two games have gone better than anyone could have possibly imagined, and with injuries to Uribe and Casey Blake there’s of course going to be some varying lineups. It’s just not a lineup you would have believed in a million years had I put it out there at the beginning of camp.

On the other hand, the Giants are actually letting Miguel Tejada bat leadoff for the first time in over ten years, so there’s that. In addition to that bizarre decision, the Dodgers have this in their favor: Ethier and Loney have just crushed Matt Cain in their careers. Ethier’s at .488/.511/.561 in 47 PA, while Loney’s at .378/.439/.568 in 41 PA.

******

In sadder news, Davey Lopes has left the club for a few days due to a death in the family, reports Ken Gurnick. Everyone’s condolences are with him, of course; it’ll be interesting to see how much of his teaching Kemp retains with Dave Hansen filling in at first base instead.