Muncy moved to leadoff, Mookie bats 2nd

LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers were full of surprises on Thursday, including the batting order, as Mookie Betts was dropped from leadoff to the No. 2 spot, switching places with Max Muncy for the foreseeable future.

Manager Dave Roberts said the change from the order he used in Spring Training and Summer Camp was in anticipation of pitching changes by the Giants, who are run by former Dodgers executive president Farhan Zaidi and manager Gabe Kapler.

“With the way that the Giants, or any other team, could potentially deploy relievers to get matchups, kind of staggering the left and right throughout the lineup, I think, protects us and poses some more challenges and doesn’t give other teams the runway,” Roberts said. “Talked to the guys, they’re obviously fine with it. I think it’s the best thing for us going forward.”

Yes, going forward.

“For the foreseeable future, that’s what we’re going to do,” Roberts said. “I’m not going to hold myself to one set lineup indefinitely. But for the foreseeable future, we’ll see how it plays out.”

Roberts said he expects more clubs to use “openers” and, with larger pitching staffs, make more pitching changes to set up favorable matchups.

• Kershaw (back) to injured list

Tommy Lasorda Field at Penn
With a $2 million gift from alum Warren Lichtenstein, the University of Pennsylvania will upgrade the school’s baseball facility and rename it Tommy Lasorda Field at Meiklejohn Stadium, after Lichtenstein’s friend and the Dodgers Hall of Fame manager from Norristown, Pa.

“Tommy Lasorda has been a great mentor and coach, and he has touched the lives of so many people around the world as the greatest ambassador for the game of baseball and the Dodgers,” Lichtenstein said. “Tommy and the Lasorda family have meant so much and done so much for Norristown and the state of Pennsylvania that it is only fitting to name Penn’s baseball field for him.”