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Gordon's clutch two-run double ties it up

The Dodgers started playing their best baseball last season about the time Dee Gordon joined the club. Now, as Los Angeles has staked claim to baseball's best record, Gordon is fighting for playing time.

The speedy shortstop made his Major League debut on June 6, 2011, and the Dodgers went 29-27 down the stretch in the 56 games in which he appeared. As a result, they finished the season three games over .500, good for third in the National League West.

This season, the Dodgers are a Major League-best 29-13 and they've done so without much production from last season's spark plug. Gordon served as the club's leadoff hitter for the first six weeks of the season, but manager Don Mattingly has cut his playing time in an effort to get the 24-year-old back on track.

Gordon hasn't started since Friday, and has a walk in his only plate appearance since going 0-for-5 that day. He is hitting .200 with one homer and 12 steals.

"I just want to give him a chance to calm down," Mattingly said, adding that Gordon will start at shortstop on Tuesday against Arizona righty Trevor Cahill, but will sit Wednesday when the D-backs send southpaw Joe Saunders to the mound.

Meanwhile, Arizona's shortstop has been surging at the plate. Willie Bloomquist went 1-for-4 in Monday's 6-1 loss and is now 11-for-24 in his last five games. In that span, he has raised his average to .260 from .214.

"It's just more doing what I'm capable of doing," Bloomquist said. "I've been downright awful to start the year, so I'm just trying to get back to things that make me successful. That's hitting the ball on the ground, just staying back and trying to get better pitches to hit. It's finding some holes. I'm definitely not there yet, but it's a good start."

Dodgers: Kershaw named Player of the Week
For the second time in his career, Los Angeles lefty Clayton Kershaw was named the National League's Player of the Week. Kershaw went 2-0 and tossed 16 scoreless innings in two outings last week. The defending NL Cy Young Award winner recorded 10 strikeouts while yielding 10 hits and three walks.

Kershaw threw seven scoreless innings against the D-backs on Monday and hurled a shutout against the Cardinals on Saturday. Overall, the 24-year-old is 4-1 with a 1.90 ERA. He also received the honor for June 20-26, 2011.

• Aaron Harang will take the hill for Los Angeles on Tuesday. The veteran righty has pitched his best baseball of the season his last few times out.

In his three most recent outings, Harang has allowed just three runs in 21 innings (1.29 ERA), while walking five and striking out 10. He has a 2-0 record to show for it.

Overall, Harang is 3-2 with a 3.83 ERA.

D-backs: Bell takes over at third
Arizona shook up its third-base situation on Monday. The club recalled Josh Bell from Triple-A Reno, designated Cody Ransom for assignment and shifted Ryan Roberts to more of a utility role.

Bell, who started Monday against the Dodgers -- the team that drafted him in 2005 -- is expected to become the team's everyday third baseman for the time being.

"He'll get a lot of playing time, yes," D-backs manager Kirk Gibson said. "He was very productive [at Reno], we feel like he deserved an opportunity to come up here. It'll move Ryan Roberts to more of a utility guy, he might play more second base, move him around a little bit, he's versatile in that role."

Bell was hitting .381 with 30 RBIs in 26 games with the Aces. He went 1-for-3 and made an error on Monday.

Ransom hit .269 with four homers and 13 RBIs in 17 games for the D-backs.

"Cody did well for us early on," Gibson said. "Ultimately we made the decision we were going to make a change at third base."

• Cahill, a native of Oceanside, Calif., will face the Dodgers on Tuesday for the first time since his rookie season in 2009, when he was pitching for Oakland.

Five current Dodgers players have faced Cahill before, combining for a paltry .184 batting average (7-for-38) against him.

Worth noting
• D-backs catcher Miguel Montero left Monday's contest with a mild left groin strain.

• Arizona is 3-14 in its last 17 contests at Chase Field.

• The Dodgers have won 10 of their last 12 and five in a row.

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