It has not been an easy weekend series for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  There was optimism as Rafael Furcal was expected to return for Friday night's game and Andruw Jones looked to also be on the road to recovery.  Then reality set in. 

First, Furcal woke up with stiffness in his back on Thursday and by Friday manager Joe Torre was talking about the real possibility that their leadoff hitter might not be able to travel with the team on their road trips to Chicago and New York.  The team then dropped a tough one to the Cardinals on Friday night highlighted by a 65-minute rain delay in the bottom of the ninth inning that prolonged the agony of a 2-1 loss.

With Friday behind them and the exciting news of 20-year-old lefty Clayton Kershaw getting the nod for Sunday's game, the Dodgers were looking forward to putting the bad news of Furcal's setback and the previous night's loss behind them. 

Prior to the game, Andruw Jones unsuccessfully tested his knee and the decision was made to have Jones undergo surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee which put the $36-million dollar man on the disabled list.  The surgery means that Jones will have to continue to have his .165 batting average, 45 strikeouts and 1-for-33 performance with runners in scoring position weighing on his mind while on the mend.

More bad news came in the form of Nomar Garciaparra going on the 60-day disabled list with a calf injury which would put him out until the end of June, at least.  Then their worst fears for Furcal were realized when it was confirmed that he would not travel to Chicago or New York.  At 7-8 going into Saturday's game without Furcal, this was the biggest blow of the day.

Saturday night's game offered no salvation as ace Brad Penny was outpitched by Kyle Lohse and the Cardinals bullpen on his 30th birthday as L.A. lost 4-0 and fell to 7-9 without Furcal and 3 1/2 games out of first place in the N.L. West.

A strong debut from Kershaw on Sunday would be music to the struggling team's ears as the Dodgers are in the third day of 15 consecutive days in a row.  Fortunately, the team their chasing, the Arizona Diamondbacks, have also come down to earth and the Dodgers have lost very little ground during their downtrend.  Also, pitchers Jason Schmidt and Estaban Loaiza have progressed well in a rehab assignment and catcher Gary Bennett's foot injury that landed him on the DL gives him an opportunity to work on the mental block he has had with his throwing accuracy.

It could only get worse for L.A. if Vin Scully decided to retire this week.  Let's hope for Dodgers' fans things don't get that bad.