Alex Castellanos

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Dodgers recalled Alex Castellanos from triple-A Albuquerque for the opening game of their make-or-break three-game series against the San Francisco Giants. A 26-year-old infielder/outfielder, Castellanos will be on the major league roster for the third time this season. In his 12 previous games with the Dodgers, he hit .136 (three for 22) with a triple and two runs batted in. Castellanos batted .328 with 17 home runs and 52 RBIs in 94 games with Albuquerque.

Hanley Ramirez moved a big step closer to rejoining the Dodgers when he started at shortstop Saturday for the team's Class-A affiliate in Rancho Cucamonga. And Ramirez, who hasn't played since tearing a ligament in his right thumb during the World Baseball Classic five weeks ago, made an immediate contribution finishing one for three with two runs batted in and handling eighth chances, including three double plays, in six innings. Ramirez is expected to play for the Quakes on Sunday but Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said the timetable for Ramirez's return to the majors would be set by Stan Conte , the team's vice president for medical services.

Alex Castellanos is being called up from triple-A Albuquerque to replace Matt Kemp, who is expected to be placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday. The impending move was confirmed by multiple people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it won't be made official until later in the day. [ 3:40 p.m. update - The Dodgers confirmed Thursday afternoon that Kemp was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left hamstring strain and that Castellanos was called up from triple-A Albuquerque.]

When spring training began, the Dodgers had eight starting pitchers. A rotation being a rather exclusive club, that was three too many. Most figured at least one would be traded before it ended. Yet spring training came to an end for the Dodgers on Saturday, and all eight remained. That's still three too many. “We have a couple guys who aren't going to make the club probably right now due to health,” said Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti . Ted Lilly and Chad Billingsley are the two starters expected to begin the season on the disabled list.

Before the game Saturday, Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly spoke glowingly of the work veteran reliever Kevin Gregg had turned in this spring. “He's been great,” Mattingly said. “I know he can't be this good. But every time out, he just gets outs. “He couldn't have had a better camp really. We're just trying to figure a way to keep Kevin around.” Turns out they couldn't, at least for now. After the Dodgers' 2-1 loss to the Angels they announced most, but not all, of their moves to get the roster down to 25 for Monday's season opener.

Dodgers 3, Seattle Mariners 2 AT THE PLATE: Outfielder Alex Castellanos, bidding for a bench spot, hit a game-winning, two-run home run in the seventh inning. Castellanos has a team-high three homers this spring. Right fielder Andre Ethier doubled, his third extra-base hit in 12 spring at-bats. ON THE MOUND: Aaron Harang gave up two runs and six hits in three innings, lowering his spring earned-run average to 10.80. Shawn Tolleson, Kenley Jansen, Brandon League, J.P. Howell, Kevin Gregg and Paco Rodriguez each pitched a scoreless relief inning.

Dodgers 8, San Francisco 8 AT THE PLATE: Alex Castellanos hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning off Ramon Ramirez. With the Dodgers lacking power on their bench, the 26-year-old Castellanos could have an outside chance at making the roster or earning an in-season call-up. Castellanos played in center field, as Manager Don Mattingly wanted to see if he could fill in there if Matt Kemp is injured. Nonroster outfielder Jeremy Moore, a former Angels prospect, had two doubles and drove in two runs.

TEMPE, Ariz. - The big-budget-production Dodgers and Angels will hold their 2013 Southern California premiere Thursday night when they open the traditional Freeway Series at Angel Stadium. The teams play Friday night in Dodger Stadium and Saturday night in Anaheim. Like the last five weeks of exhibitions in Arizona, these games don't count - the Dodgers open the regular season Monday at home against the defending World Series-champion San Francisco Giants; the Angels open Monday at Cincinnati.

Dodgers 11, Chicago Cubs 7 AT THE PLATE: Alfredo Amezaga started at second base — his fifth position of the spring — and was three for three, scored a run and drove in two. Cuban defector Yasiel Puig had two hits and could have been credited with a third when the Cubs' Scott Hairston, after a long run, failed to catch Puig's 410-foot shot to the wall in center field, drawing an error. Puig scored three times. ON THE MOUND: Aaron Harang gave up four runs and five hits in a 37-pitch first inning, but the six pitchers who followed him combined to allow five hits over seven innings without an earned run. EXTRA BASES: Alex Castellanos' seventh-inning home run gave him two homers this spring.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- While Clayton Kershaw and a group of D-listers faced the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, most of the Dodgers were already on their way back to Los Angeles. Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang departed camp without knowing what their futures held. Members of the team's five-man rotation last year, they figure to be traded or moved to the bullpen. Ted Lilly, who was scheduled to follow Kershaw on Wednesday, is also out of the rotation. But Manager Don Mattingly said Lilly could start the season on the disabled list.

Before the game Saturday, Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly spoke glowingly of the work veteran reliever Kevin Gregg had turned in this spring. “He's been great,” Mattingly said. “I know he can't be this good. But every time out, he just gets outs. “He couldn't have had a better camp really. We're just trying to figure a way to keep Kevin around.” Turns out they couldn't, at least for now. After the Dodgers' 2-1 loss to the Angels they announced most, but not all, of their moves to get the roster down to 25 for Monday's season opener.

PEORIA, Ariz. -- While Clayton Kershaw and a group of D-listers faced the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, most of the Dodgers were already on their way back to Los Angeles. Chris Capuano and Aaron Harang departed camp without knowing what their futures held. Members of the team's five-man rotation last year, they figure to be traded or moved to the bullpen. Ted Lilly, who was scheduled to follow Kershaw on Wednesday, is also out of the rotation. But Manager Don Mattingly said Lilly could start the season on the disabled list.

TEMPE, Ariz. - The big-budget-production Dodgers and Angels will hold their 2013 Southern California premiere Thursday night when they open the traditional Freeway Series at Angel Stadium. The teams play Friday night in Dodger Stadium and Saturday night in Anaheim. Like the last five weeks of exhibitions in Arizona, these games don't count - the Dodgers open the regular season Monday at home against the defending World Series-champion San Francisco Giants; the Angels open Monday at Cincinnati.

Dodgers 3, Seattle Mariners 2 AT THE PLATE: Outfielder Alex Castellanos, bidding for a bench spot, hit a game-winning, two-run home run in the seventh inning. Castellanos has a team-high three homers this spring. Right fielder Andre Ethier doubled, his third extra-base hit in 12 spring at-bats. ON THE MOUND: Aaron Harang gave up two runs and six hits in three innings, lowering his spring earned-run average to 10.80. Shawn Tolleson, Kenley Jansen, Brandon League, J.P. Howell, Kevin Gregg and Paco Rodriguez each pitched a scoreless relief inning.

Nervous, are you? Matt Kemp can't get a hit. Can't seem to find his spring groove. Seems slightly hesitant at the plate. Relax, blue lover, this is not a major concern. Not on March 9. Yeah, the numbers are not exciting. Kemp is 0 for 11 this spring with five strikeouts. Add his game against Mexico and his one at-bat in Friday's rainout, and he's a combined 0 for 15. Kemp, of course, had off-season surgery on his left shoulder. The Dodgers hoped it would be just a minor cleanup, but he needed his labrum reattached . So after he went hitless in three at-bats on Saturday in the Dodgers' 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners with two more strikeouts, somewhere the concern level had to be rising a bit. But Kemp sent a screeching line drive to center for an out and does not appear to be in any pain when he swings hard.

PHOENIX - This season will be the eighth of Andre Ethier's career, the first of an $85-million contract. For all that time, and for all that money, the Dodgers still do not know that he can reliably hit all comers. For now, he is the Dodgers' everyday right fielder. "I'm definitely not going to platoon him," Manager Don Mattingly said Saturday. Ethier batted .222 with a .606 OPS (on-base plus slugging average) against left-handers last season, .325 with a .945 OPS against right-handers.

Dodgers 4, Giants 0 (rained out in second inning); Dodgers 3, Reds 1 (rained out in fifth inning) AT THE PLATE: The Dodgers wanted to see Yasiel Puig face major league pitching and they got their chance in the first inning of a rain-shortened game against San Francisco in Scottsdale, with the Cuban rookie delivering a run-scoring single off former Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito. In the rain-shortened second game with the Reds, Dee Gordon had a double, stole a base and scored from third on an out even though the infield was playing in. ON THE MOUND: Chris Capuano's best outing of the spring won't show up in the statistics but the left-hander held the Reds to two hits and one run in four innings.

When spring training began, the Dodgers had eight starting pitchers. A rotation being a rather exclusive club, that was three too many. Most figured at least one would be traded before it ended. Yet spring training came to an end for the Dodgers on Saturday, and all eight remained. That's still three too many. “We have a couple guys who aren't going to make the club probably right now due to health,” said Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti . Ted Lilly and Chad Billingsley are the two starters expected to begin the season on the disabled list.

Dodgers 4, Giants 0 (rained out in second inning); Dodgers 3, Reds 1 (rained out in fifth inning) AT THE PLATE: The Dodgers wanted to see Yasiel Puig face major league pitching and they got their chance in the first inning of a rain-shortened game against San Francisco in Scottsdale, with the Cuban rookie delivering a run-scoring single off former Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito. In the rain-shortened second game with the Reds, Dee Gordon had a double, stole a base and scored from third on an out even though the infield was playing in. ON THE MOUND: Chris Capuano's best outing of the spring won't show up in the statistics but the left-hander held the Reds to two hits and one run in four innings.

PHOENIX - Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly was asked this week what his biggest worry was with the team's projected $230-million roster. "Health is always a good place to start," he said. "Are we going to be able to stay healthy?" Less than 24 hours after Mattingly confessed his fears, the Dodgers were without two-thirds of their starting outfield. Carl Crawford will be out at a least a week with nerve irritation in his surgically repaired left arm. Andre Ethier was scratched from Friday's split-squad game in Tempe because of a blister on his right hand, a malady similar to what bothered him last summer.