Dee Gordon‘s demotion to the bottom of the lineup lasted 11 games, during which he hit a much-improved .308/.341/.333, though he drew just two walks in 42 plate appearances while the Dodgers went 4-7. Apparently, that’s enough to return him to to the top of the lineup, as he’ll be leading off today as Tony Gwynn gets bumped down to eighth. Personally, I don’t think Gordon has all of a sudden become the leadoff hitter this club needs, but it’s hard to suggest that Gwynn’s .324 OBP was the cure either, so I don’t mind Don Mattingly trying to shake things up again.

I’d like to say I mind that Alex Castellanos is sitting on the bench again, but then I’m not really sure what the solution is to get him in today, assuming that his defense at second base is not regarded as major league caliber. Bobby Abreu hit a homer yesterday and has been very productive as a Dodger, and you’re not going to sit Andre Ethier, right? I really, really don’t look forward to Juan Rivera returning to add more complications, though at least the Dodgers have some DH games in AL parks coming up.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll be pretty happy to see the Dodgers get out of Colorado; after today, they won’t return to Coors Field until the end of August, by which time I imagine we’ll be seeing a roster at least 30% different than the 25 men we see right now. Of course, once they do leave Colorado, they continue a brutal travel schedule, headed to Philadelphia for four, across the country to Seattle for three, then back home for three against the Angels, all without the benefit of a day off.

Nathan Eovaldi attempts to build on his outstanding first start, while Colorado’s Alex White is coming off the worst outing of his career, having allowed ten hits and six runs in five innings against Houston last week.