Giants face Dodgers, play medical Whack-a-Mole

LOS ANGELES - After a 16-inning victory in Miami on Thursday, baseball's Medical Whack-a-Mole Traveling Show rolls into Dodger Stadium. One injury disappears, another pops up. Whack that one down with the mallet, and here comes another.

Evan Longoria went on the disabled list Friday and will learn through a visit with hand specialist Dr. Stephen Shin whether he needs surgery to stabilize his broken left pinkie, as Madison Bumgarner did, and his prognosis for recovery. Brandon Belt is could return from his appendectomy two weeks after his emergency surgery and a few days earlier than expected because, well, the Giants need him.

However, he is not in the lineup Friday night and not listed among the extras on the lineup sheet. Manager Bruce Bochy will address all this during batting practice. Alen Hanson will play third base and Pablo Sandoval first. Buster Posey is out, which is not surprising after he caught all 16 innings Thursday.

The Giants also might make a pitching move after their long reliever, Ty Blach, pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings to win Thursday. Pierce Johnson was summoned from Triple-A and for now is on the taxi squad.

Again, no changes on the posted pitching list.

The Giants, as we have documented, have done a good job hanging around .500 in an injury-plagued National League West waiting to get whole, which raises this question: What if they never get whole?

They have no guarantees that players magically will stop getting their hands fractured, thumbs torn and shoulders inflamed, as a medical "timeout," until the rest of the injured get healthy.

To the extent the Giants can compete in the division, they will have to rely on depth and stepped-up performances from those who are here. Now that the draft is over, front offices intensify work toward the trade deadline, although the Giants' desire to stay under the luxury-tax threshold complicates that endeavor.

The Giants are 3-4 on an odd trip in which they took two of three in Washington, beating Max Scherzer, then lost three of four to Marlins.

The rotation stabilized some, but the offense struggled, which is not surprising given Belt's absence. At some point a team is going to feel the loss of its best hitter.

Even if Belt does not return with his bat a-blazin', he does have a knack for making pitchers work and drawing walks. He remains the Giants' leader in home runs with 11.

The Giants enter this three-game series against the Dodgers with one of the league's worst road records (15-24), but they have had an interesting knack for following long stretches of losses by winning getaway games, as they did in Pittsburgh and Colorado, with some degree of positive carryover.

Giants hitters will be challenged Friday when they face Ross Stripling, a right-hander who is building All-Star credentials (5-1, 1.65 ERA, 1.05 WHIP) as he helps right the Dodgers' injury-riddled pitching staff.

Then again, Dodgers hitters have to face Scherzer-killer Derek Holland, who, besides pitching five shutout innings against that sure All-Star in Washington, also started and won the getaway game in Pittsburgh that ended a six-game losing streak in May.

Here are the lineups:

GIANTS (vs. RHP Ross Stripling)

Panik 2B

Hanson 3B

McCutchen RF

Crawford SS

Sandoval 1B

Hundley C

Williamson LF

Jackson CF

Holland P

DODGERS (vs. LHP Derek Holland)

Taylor SS

Hernandez CF

Turner 3B

Kemp LF

Muncy 1B

Grandal C

Puig RF

Forsythe 2B

Stripling P