Matt Kemp

As Don Mattingly has repeatedly said, it's one thing to worry about someone with a limited track record like Luis Cruz, and quite another to worry about a Matt Kemp. So the company line has continually been: not overly worried about a struggling Kemp. Even before Tuesday's game, Mattingly said, "Matt's a confident guy. He's been through enough of these, he knows you have to keep putting games behind you.” Then Kemp went out and was hitless in three at-bats, leaving him with a season average that fell to .196 and still without his first home run. Then Mattingly said.

Next time you roll your eyes at the “can't have too much pitching” cliche, the Dodgers would remind you of the truth in every cliche. Eleven days ago, the Dodgers had three surplus starters. Today, they have none. Chris Capuano left Tuesday's game because of a strained calf, the lingering memory of an otherwise forgettable 9-2 loss to the San Diego Padres. Capuano, who suffered the injury while running to cover first base, said he would have an MRI exam Thursday.

Patience, now. That's what the Dodgers have to be telling themselves. But how much patience with Luis Cruz is a fair amount? How long do they give him to turn things around before giving up and moving onto Plan B, whatever that is. Certainly two weeks in a six-month seasons would seem quick on the trigger, but as Manager Don Mattingly keeps saying, it isn't like Cruz has the track record of a Matt Kemp. Cruz had three really good months last season, vs. 11 pretty forgettable, years.

Over the years, the brash young kid has become a respectful student of history, even a teacher. On a recent day in Arizona, while most of his teammates were watching the Masters in the visiting clubhouse, Matt Kemp sat by himself in an adjacent room taking in a documentary about Jackie Robinson . "As I get older, I want to learn more," Kemp said. "Growing up, I knew about Jackie Robinson, but I didn't know about the significance of it the way I do now. " Kemp spoke at length Monday about Robinson's impact before the Dodgers celebrated Jackie Robinson Day at Dodger Stadium.

There were no brush back pitches, no brawls, no outward display of tension. Alas, for the Dodgers , no victory either. There was a disappointing 6-3 loss to the Padres , the Dodgers falling Monday on Jackie Robinson day before a Dodger Stadium sellout crowd of 52,136, as their offense again mostly struggled. In the first meeting between the teams since Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin charged Zack Greinke after being hit with a pitch, fracturing his collarbone and leading to a bench-clearing scrap.

It's April 13 and already you're tired of it. And just think, only 152 games to go! Yet there it is, stark and unwanted and unwilling to slip away: The Dodgers cannot hit. The world's most expensive lineup is barely hitting better than the depleted Miami Marlins, which we are required to still call a major league team. It would be so much easier to write this off as some early season apparition, if it didn't feel like we'd seen it all before. Like pretty much the entire time down the stretch last year after the blockbuster trade that brought Adrian Gonzalez & Co. over.

"I heard there are some smart people at Stanford. That wasn't too smart. " - Matt Kemp of the Dodgers, on Padres slugger (and former Stanford student) Carlos Quentin, who broke the collarbone of Zack Greinke by charging the mound and flinging him to the ground, after what Quentin decided - and Greinke denied - was an intentional hit by pitch. "Not sure what I would do if someone charged and lowered their shoulder at me … but lowering mine back prob isnt at the top of the list" - Cleveland Indians pitcher Vinnie Pestano, on Twitter, on Greinke's reaction to Quentin rushing the mound.

Say one thing about the Dodgers post-Zack Greinke, they're being decisive. One day after learning Greinke's broken collarbone would keep him out at least eight weeks , they announced Saturday that left-hander Chris Capuano would move into his spot in the rotation. That's the best move for the long term, the other choice being Ted Lilly, who hasn't demonstrated his previous sharpness while in rehab from shoulder surgery. Capuano was not-so-privately upset at having to morph from starter into do-everything reliever.

Look out Clayton Kershaw, seems the Dodgers now have a pair of good-hitting starting pitchers. Hyun-Jin Ryu, who did not pick up a bat for the last seven years while playing in South Korea, had three hits Saturday against the Diamondbacks. Apparently the Diamondbacks announcers were so taken by his hitting skill, they dubbed him Babe Ryuth. He's paid to pitch, of course, and he did that plenty well enough to lead the Dodgers, and an actual semblance of offense, to a 7-5 victory over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field, despite the bullpen almost blowing a five-run lead.

Now that was something of a letdown. The night after the Dodgers' emotional victory over the San Diego Padres, they flew to Arizona and looked anything but inspired. They could not score a single run for Clayton Kershaw, wasting another strong performance from their healthy ace, and fell to the Diamondbacks, 3-0, Friday at Chase Field. The Dodgers took the field knowing they had lost right-hander Zack Greinke for at least eight weeks with a broken collarbone suffered in his fight Thursday with Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin.