Monday through Wednesday: Brewers at Dodger Stadium Thursday through Aug. 9: Braves at Dodger Stadium

Monday through Wednesday: Brewers at Dodger Stadium

Thursday through Aug. 9: Braves at Dodger Stadium

. . . because it’s Saturday, and the 30-mile drive to Dodger Stadium should not take the hour and a half that it might on a weekday. The Dodgers play the Atlanta Braves at 7 p.m., and the Dodgers’ scheduled starter is Clayton Kershaw, who is six months younger than O’Sullivan but already has emerged as a premium major league pitcher. The Dodgers selected Kershaw in the first round of the 2006 draft, three picks before the San Francisco Giants took Tim Lincecum, and Kershaw has done nothing to make the Dodgers regret their choice. Kershaw has not lost in nine starts, with a 5-0 record and 0.79 earned-run average in that span. Two games, two ballparks, with two of the best young pitchers our local teams have to offer.

-- Bill Shaikin