Jinxing a Dodgers no-hitter is off limits for play-by-play man Joe Davis

As the Dodgers took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of Thursday’s Freeway Series exhibition, Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser joked in the television booth about whether they could jinx a spring training no-hitter.

When the season starts Monday — the first for Davis, after 67 for Vin Scully — this might not be a joking matter for the new voice of the Dodgers. If a certain three-time National League Cy Young Award winner is three outs from a no-hitter, there is one sentence Davis says he will not use.

“I’m not going to tell you, ‘Here we go to the ninth inning, and Clayton Kershaw is throwing a no-hitter,’ � he said.

When Kershaw no-hit the Colorado Rockies three years ago, Scully reminded viewers he did not entertain the silly notion that a no-hitter could be jinxed because he said the pitcher was throwing one.

“We don’t believe in superstition,� Scully said on the air. “Our job is to give you information.�

Davis said he would not be averse to such sentences as “Kershaw has not allowed a hit� or “the Padres are still looking for a hit� or “Kershaw has thrown one no-hitter in his career.�

Said Davis: “It’s my job to tell you what is going on. There’s no way what I say affects the game on the field, obviously. But, as kind of a nod to the people that do care and are bugged by hearing ‘no-hitter,’ I just try to be tactful.

“There are some guys who refuse to acknowledge what’s going on. It’s my job to acknowledge what’s going on and tell people that it’s happening. But I think there’s a careful, respectful way to do that. You’re not going to please everybody, but you’re respecting both sides of it.�

Puig down (in lineup)

After a summer and winter in which the Dodgers made him available in trade, Yasiel Puig will start this season as the team’s everyday right fielder.

That does not mean he will fill a glamorous spot in the lineup every day. He batted eighth in each of the first two Freeway Series games, and Manager Dave Roberts said Puig would remain toward the bottom of the lineup against right-handers.

“I don’t see him in the middle of the order,� Roberts said. “That can change with production.�

Puig’s batting average/OPS against right-handers: .265/.715 last year, .248/.704 two years ago, .307/.901 three years ago, .312/.897 four years ago.

Puig is expected to occupy a prominent spot in the lineup against left-handers.

A field of their own

The Oakland Athletics are the last major league team to share their field with an NFL team, a dubious distinction that will end when the Raiders move to Las Vegas.

The A’s are hoping to build their own ballpark in Oakland. Until then, however, even a Raiders-less Coliseum would be better.

Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren, the A’s manager for five seasons, recalled days when the A’s could not take batting practice on time on certain Mondays because the field still was being converted from its Raiders configuration on an NFL Sunday.

Geren said the Oakland Coliseum grounds crew worked heroically amid trying conditions. Still, the A’s could find a home-field edge, even on a bad field.

“The outfield would play real fast, because the stands would sit on it [for NFL games],� Geren said. “In some respects, that might have even been an advantage, because the home team knew how fast the outfield would be. But it didn’t take long for the visiting team to figure it out, once one ball scooted to the wall.�

Short hops

In the year after setting a major league record for most players on the disabled list, the Dodgers are expected to open the season with five players on the DL: outfielder Andre Ethier and pitchers Pedro Baez, Yimi Garcia, Scott Kazmir and Brock Stewart. Baez should be the first one activated, probably in the second week of the season. … The new food offerings at Dodger Stadium include a “Dodger burger,� a beef patty topped with a Dodger dog.

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