The Dodgers are 6-13 since Ellis’ last start for the team.

Ted Lilly is expected to come off the disabled list this week. He will either take the spot in the starting rotation of today’s starter, Matt Magill, or will go to the bullpen. Javy Guerra is probably heading back to Albuquerque soon, if not to make room for Lilly then for Scott Elbert, whose return is also fairly imminent.

Things look bleak again for the Dodgers after a short respite, but Chris Capuano’s appearance Saturday was briefly encouraging, even if there’s a hint of health concern again for the lefty, according to The Associated Press.

… Capuano said he told Mattingly after his last at-bat in the eighth inning to be prepared to pull him out of the game because he had lingering problems with a strained calf.

“It wasn’t affecting pitch execution out there,” Capuano said. “It just feels a little tired. I’ve got an extra day before the next start. With treatment and stuff we should be able to get that ready.” …

Dodgers at Braves, 10:30 a.m.

Carl Crawford, LF
Mark Ellis, 2B
Matt Kemp, CF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
A.J. Ellis, C
Scott Van Slyke, RF
Juan Uribe, 3B
Nick Punto, SS
Matt Magill, P

Today’s question: Who’s your 16th favorite Dodger catcher of the century?

The ’95 team rallied to win a division title.

Dodgers at Braves, 4:30 p.m.

Trepidation sandwiched tonight’s Dodger effort against the Nationals, with Zack Greinke coming off the disabled list to start the game and Brandon League back in action to end it. And in between, there were several meaty layers of runners threatening to score against multiple Dodger relievers.

Each time, pleasure pummeled pain, leading to Los Angeles’ 3-1 victory over Washington, capping the best stretch of Dodger baseball at home since Opening Day.

Greinke danced like Astaire in the first three innings, not only stifling the Nationals on 38 pitches but also driving in the Dodgers’ second run with an unexpected RBI single (when it had been floated earlier this week that Greinke would be too sore to even take the bat off his shoulder). It was the Dodgers’ second two-out, RBI single in the first two innings, following Adrian Gonzalez’s delivery of Matt Kemp in the first.

Scott Van Slyke missed triplicating the feat in the third inning, scorching as hard a line drive I’ve seen from a Dodger this year, only for Ryan Zimmerman to spear it and bail the Nationals out of a bases-loaded jam.

Greinke ran into trouble in a 28-pitch fourth inning, but escaped with only one run’s worth of damage, thanks to Adam La Roche’s solo homer, and there was little of incident before the Dodger righty left the game with the bases empty and one out in the sixth, 83 heartwarming pitches into his first official start since colliding with Carlos Quentin.

Then came the saltiness of the Dodger bullpen.

Immediately after Greinke took a seat, J.P. Howell and Matt Guerrier combined to allow runners to reach first and third, but Danny Espinosa grounded out to end the sixth. Paco Rodriguez issued a two-out walk to Denard Span in the seventh, but Kenley Jansen came in, threw one pitch and watched Span get caught stealing by A.J. Ellis.

This day in baseball: May 15, 2013

Don Mattingly has received a tremendous amount of grief this year, but what he’s done over the past two nights deserves respect.

Mattingly used his best reliever when it counted, regardless of when it counted.

Tuesday, he didn’t fret over the questions he would receive about avoiding Brandon League when it came to preserving Clayton Kershaw’s shutout. He went straight to Kenley Jansen.

Tonight, when modern convention would have dictated saving Jansen for the ninth again, Mattingly struck early. Rather then holding Jansen back for a save situation that might never come, he put the powerful righty into the game in the seventh with the tying run on base, knowing that he could get more than an inning out of Jansen thanks to Thursday’s off day.

You could argue that Mattingly should have gotten two full innings out of Jansen, but this qualifies as a major breakthrough for a manager whose bullpen usage has often been all too thoughtless. I don’t know how long it will last, but for two games, the smokejumper lives.

And now, let’s get back to this one.

As it happened, Jansen ran into his own bit of trouble in the eighth, allowing back-to-back singles to start the inning – illustrating that not even he is perfect. But with the tying run on third and nobody out, Jansen rose to the challenge, retiring La Roche on a soft fly to left (with Van Slyke quickly returning the ball to the infield to thwart any possible attempt to tag up and score), striking out Ian Desmond and then, with the go-ahead run in scoring position, setting down Kurt Suzuki on a fly to right. Stirring.

A bases-loaded Carl Crawford sacrifice fly (pinch-hitting for Van Slyke, rather than for Jansen one batter later, abbreviating the Mattingly honeymoon) gave the Dodgers – and about as importantly, their fans – an extra run of breathing room heading into the ninth and the return of League to the spotlight.

League gave up a leadoff single to Espinosa, one that aroused much more concern than anything Jansen surrendered. After Roger Bernadina grounded out, the batter was none other than pinch-hitter Bryce Harper, in his first appearance since he Wile E. Coyoted the Dodger Stadium right-field wall Monday.

In yet another moment of drama, Harper grounded out, and soon Span did the same, and the Dodgers had won their fourth game out of their past five, pulling within 5 1/2 games of San Francisco.

Enjoy Thursday’s day of rest – you’ve earned it.

Kershaw entered the ninth inning with 114 pitches under his belt (about 60 of those coming in the first three innings, then about 50 over the next five). He gave up two warning-track fly outs, then endured a 10-pitch battle with Adam La Roche that ended with a single to center.

The 25-year-old lefty, who crossed the 1,000-inning mark in his career, struck out 11 and allowed five hits and a walk. With the bases loaded and two out in the top of the first, Kershaw struck out the next batter … and the next five.

Brandon League, as you might have guessed amid his ongoing struggles, was not given the opportunity to close. Kenley Jansen and Paco Rodriguez warmed up in the bullpen behind Kershaw in the ninth, and it was Jansen who struck out Tyler Moore to end the game.

Kershaw lowered his ERA to 1.40, taking over the major-league lead. In his past four starts, he has allowed two earned runs in 30 2/3 innings for a 0.59 ERA with 32 strikeouts against 16 baserunners.

He also scored the Dodgers first run, starting the bottom of the third by getting hit by a pitch. One out later, Matt Kemp singled, and one out and a wild pitch later, Andre Ethier singled them both home.

Kershaw’s previous career high in pitches in a single game was 125, on July 26, 2011. He threw a 108-pitch complete game in his next start, allowed four runs in the one after that, and then had a 0.96 ERA the rest of the 2011 season.

One more thing to scare the rest of the baseball world: Kershaw currently has a 1.40 ERA, and every full season of his career, he has been a better second-half pitcher.

2009: 3.16 first half, 2.27 second half
2010: 2.96 first half, 2.84 second half
2011: 3.03 first half, 1.31 second half
2012: 2.91 first half, 2.10 second half

So why are the Yankees (24-14) in first place in their division while the Dodgers (15-22) are in last?

You can find stats that differentiate the two teams, though you might be surprised how similar they are in some respects.

The Dodger offense has an adjusted OPS of 99, according to Baseball-Reference.com, while the Yankees’ is 98.

Los Angeles ranks 29th in OPS with runners in scoring position, but New York only ranks 27th. The Dodgers actually have a higher batting average in those situations.

The Dodgers have 20 quality starts in 37 games; the Yankees 22 in 38.

Opponents have a .711 OPS against Dodger starting pitching, better than the .724 allowed by the Yankees.

All that being said, you can also find spots where the Yankees have outshone the Dodgers, such as relief pitching. In general, the Yankees are sixth in the majors in ERA, while the Dodgers are 20th.

But I’m not sure you can actually explain why there is such a gap between the two teams, or be sure that it would continue.

• 2013 Dodger runs scored vs. runs allowed: -0.92
• 2013 Yankee runs scored vs. runs allowed: +0.66

You glance at the Dodgers, and they just awful. Awful. Since sweeping Pittsburgh in the first week of the season, Los Angeles is 3-13 against teams that currently have winning records.

Could it possibly be Joe Girardi, pushing all the right levers in such a way that the Yankees win despite their uneven statistical profile underneath the runs? Could it be that the Yankees have just been luckier? Is the best theory that of Michael Schur, passed along by Joe Posnanski: that the Yankees are “a magical species, not unlike house elves?”

Is the entire season going to resemble the first quarter? The answer to that, I believe, is no.

* * *

Nationals at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.
Kershaw CLVIII: Kershawo, Pioneers

Nationals at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m.

On September 25 at Houston, the Dodgers scored two runs in the eighth inning on their way to a 3-0 victory, but did not get a hit in five at-bats after Steve Garvey’s one-out single in the top of the eighth.

Nolan Ryan no-hit the Dodgers the next day, building the streak up to 32 outs without a hit.

Pitching against his former team on September 27, Don Sutton took a no-hitter into the top of the seventh before Kenny Landreaux singled, to end the streak at 50. Sutton finished with a two-hitter. Los Angeles had four walks in that period.

Colorado made 40 straight outs between a leadoff single in Friday’s game and a walk with one out in the fifth inning of today’s contest. The Rockies’ next hit came with one out in the top of the eighth.

* * *

Marlins at Dodgers, 6:10 p.m.

Carl Crawford, LF
Dee Gordon, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Matt Kemp, CF
Andre Ethier, RF
A.J. Ellis, C
Skip Schumaker, 2B
Juan Uribe, 3B
Hyun-Jin Ryu, P