Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers entered this series in St. Louis on Thursday in a bit of a weird spot. They were somehow still only 1.5 games back in the division despite losing two of three games to the last-place Cincinnati Reds, and hardly even looking competitive throughout most of the series. They were headed to take on a team that has given the Dodgers issues in the past and one of the teams standing in the way of a playoff spot, as the Cardinals had the second Wild Card spot.
Three games later, the Dodgers are looking to sweep. The Dodgers don’t currently own the second Wild Card spot because they are now in first in the NL West, thanks in large part to the Giants snapping an 11-game losing streak by taking their first two games against the Rockies. The Rockies are winning late at the time I’m scheduling this post, so if that score held true the Dodgers would need a win to remain in first before the two teams meet in LA tomorrow.
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Dodgers
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Cardinals
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5:15 PM
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St. Louis
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LF
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Pederson |
1B
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Carpenter | |
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3B
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Turner |
RF
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Munoz | |
| SS | Machado |
SS
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DeJong | |
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1B
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Muncy |
LF
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Ozuna | |
| C | Grandal |
3B
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Gyorko | |
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CF
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Bellinger |
C
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Molina | |
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RF
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Puig | 2B | Wong | |
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2B
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Utley |
CF
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Bader | |
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P
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Stripling (R)
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P
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Wainwright (R)
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Ross Stripling starts for the Dodgers today after Alex Wood was removed from the rotation a couple days ago. I wrote about that move on Friday. Stripling made his last appearance Wednesday, starting a bullpen game in the finale in Cincinnati. He threw 51 pitches in 3 1/3 innings and allowed three hits and a run while striking out four. Stripling has been great this year, with a 2.61 ERA and 3.17 FIP in 113 2/3 innings pitched. He had a few rough starts before being placed on the DL, but has still put together a nice breakout season. He’s faced 461 batters this season and has struck out 125 while issuing only 18 walks.
Adam Wainwright will be making only his sixth start of the season today. He’s been dealing with elbow issues all season, missing roughly four weeks in April/May before returning on May 13. He started May 13 and issued six walks while retiring seven batters. He needed 79 pitches to get through 2 1/3 innings, and was placed back on the DL. He just returned on September 10 and allowed four runs in five innings against Pittsburgh. The 13-year veteran has not been good for the last few years, so we could be seeing one of his final starts against the Dodgers (or of his career if you really want to be morbid with it).
The Dodgers are running out the exact same lineup as yesterday’s contest. This is not a drill. They scored 17 last night, so expect Wainwright’s no-hitter to last like six innings tonight.
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Justin Turner was hit by a pitch on his wrist yesterday. He remained in the game and is in the lineup again today.
Justin Turner's wrist is still sore from yesterday's HBP. #Dodgers Dave Roberts: "He took some swings. It’s sore. But I just think his presence in the lineup, to put an at-bat together, we’ll bet on that."
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) September 16, 2018
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Julio Urias made his first appearance since early 2017 in yesterday’s game. He tossed a perfect inning, inducing a pair of groundouts and a strikeout. He only threw 12 pitches, but won’t be available to pitch back-to-back days.
Urias won't pitch on back-to-back days but Roberts said he feels "good about putting him in there essentially in any spot."
"Now that we’ve seen it, he got that outing out of the way, I feel better about him going forward. … He’s strong and healthy."— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) September 16, 2018
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Tonight’s game will only be broadcast on ESPN with no blackouts in LA. Two straight games that we can actually watch. #Blessed.
