Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers look for their second series win against the Brewers this month as they wrap up their final road trip of the first half in Milwaukee with a three-game set. They took three of four against the Crew at Dodger Stadium earlier in June. The Dodgers still trail the Giants by seven games in the standings, but they have won seven of their last ten.
|
Dodgers
|
Brewers
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
5:10 p.m. PT
|
Milwaukee
|
|||
|
2B
|
Utley
|
SS
|
Villar | |
|
LF
|
Kendrick |
3B
|
Hill | |
|
SS
|
Seager
|
LF
|
Braun | |
|
1B
|
Gonzalez
|
C
|
Lucroy | |
|
RF
|
Thompson |
1B
|
Carter | |
|
C
|
Grandal |
RF
|
Perez | |
|
CF
|
Pederson | 2B | Elmore | |
|
3B
|
Taylor |
CF
|
Broxton | |
|
P
|
Urías (L)
|
P
|
Anderson (R)
|
Julio Urías (0-2, 4.33) is still vying for his first major league win. He made a season-high 94 pitches in his previous start against the Nationals last Wednesday, allowing two runs on six hits through five innings. With Brock Stewart‘s pitching debut scheduled for Wednesday, the Dodgers don’t want to see the bullpen have to eat a lot of innings Tuesday night.
The 19-year old has already impressed even without a notch in the win column, and he has struck out 35 batters in 27 innings of work. Tuesday’s start vs. Milwaukee will be the first time Urías has faced a team twice. The Dodgers defeated the Brewers 3-2 on June 17 when the youthful left-hander pitched five scoreless innings and struck out eight. He allowed five hits, two of them to Ryan Braun.
The Brewers are mired in fourth place in the NL Central, 15 games behind the first-place Cubs. They have fared well at Miller Park and are 21-18 at home.
Chase Anderson (4-7, 5.13) is pitching on extra rest after manager Craig Counsell skipped his turn in the Milwaukee rotation. His last start, against the Dodgers in L.A., didn’t go so well for the right-hander. The Dodgers won 10-6 after Anderson exited after 2 1/3 innings, his shortest outing of the year. The right-hander allowed seven runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts in the only game that wasn’t a close contest or decided by a walk-off hit (or shrimp) in the series.
Anderson is 1-2 with a 5.05 ERA against the Dodgers in seven career starts. The two Dodger hitters who have given Anderson a hard time in the past are Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Turner. Gonzalez, who is hitting .462 with six hits including a double and a home run vs. Anderson, is back in the lineup after Dave Roberts gave him two days off to regroup amidst a slump.
Justin Turner played Brewer killer in the series at Dodger Stadium earlier in the month, and the crimson-haired third baseman hit a three-run shot against Anderson last time they saw each other. Turner, who is not in the starting lineup, left Monday’s game in Pittsburgh in the middle of the ninth inning after being in visible distress with a right leg cramp while batting. His left foot is what hurts after fouling a ball off it, not the leg cramp. Turner said he expects to play Wednesday.
There are some notable changes in the Dodgers lineup for the series opener including the absence of Yasiel Puig and Turner. Howie Kendrick is in left field, batting second. Seager bats third with Gonzalez hitting cleanup. Interestingly, Joc Pederson bats seventh. Chris Taylor gets a start at third base and bats eighth.
The Dodgers claimed infielder Cole Figueroa off waivers from the Pirates on Tuesday and optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City. The left-handed hitter’s 29th birthday is this Thursday, and he was a guest on MLB.com’s Statcast Podcast with Mike Petriello on April 27. He has played parts of three seasons with the Rays (during Andrew Friedman’s time in Tampa Bay), Yankees and Pirates. Figueroa played in 23 games for the Bucs this year and hit .154/.185/.154 over 27 plate appearances. With the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, he hit .307/.333/.453 with two home runs in 78 plate appearances. The Dodgers 40-man roster is now full, and they will need to make a corresponding move on Wednesday when they promote Stewart.
The future of Urías is dependent on the eventual returns of Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-jin Ryu as well as Clayton Kershaw’s health. McCarthy pitched five innings for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga on Monday, his fourth minor league rehab start since coming back from Tommy John surgery. He allowed four runs on seven hits including a home run, three strikeouts and no walks on 72 pitches.
Ryu’s rehab start on Tuesday was interrupted by rain in Oklahoma City.
Hyun-Jin Ryu’s rain-shortened final line: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 26 pitches, and 20 strikes. pic.twitter.com/bwmodjyQyp
— OKC Dodgers (@okc_dodgers) June 28, 2016
This worrisome piece of news could affect the rotation plans in a huge way.
Clayton Kershaw is being flown back to Los Angeles to see team doctors.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) June 28, 2016
Kershaw’s back soreness has not improved. He will see the team’s back specialist, Dr. Robert Watkins.
The All-Star Break can’t come soon enough.
[table id=5/]