Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers finally return home tonight after a pretty terrible roadtrip. It started off well, as the Dodgers swept the Rockies in Colorado’s first series at Satan Field. It ended awfully, as the Dodgers went to St. Louis and got swept in a pretty embarrassing fashion. They scored five runs in the first three games of the series. The offense finally broke out with seven runs in yesterday’s game, but poor pitching and defense negated a Walker Buehler opposite field dong and the Dodgers lost 11-7.
They return home tonight to welcome their 2018 NLCS opponent, who they will become all-too familiar with over the next couple weeks. Seven of the Dodgers’ next 10 games come against the Brewers, starting with a three-game set in LA that begins tonight.
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Brewers
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Dodgers
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7:10 p.m.
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Los Angeles
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CF
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Cain |
LF
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Pederson | |
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RF
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Yelich |
SS
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Seager | |
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LF
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Braun |
3B
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Turner | |
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1B
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Aguilar |
1B
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Bellinger | |
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C
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Grandal |
CF
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Pollock | |
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3B
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Moustakas |
RF
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Verdugo | |
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2B
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Perez | 2B | Hernández | |
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SS
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Arcia |
C
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Barnes | |
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P
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Burnes (R) |
P
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Urias (L) |
Julio Urias gets the ball for the Dodgers in what could be his final start before being relegated to the bullpen. With Clayton Kershaw scheduled to start Monday and Rich Hill on his way back, Urias could help shore up what’s been a shaky bullpen so far. Urias has faced 19 batters in each of his first two starts with different results. In his first start of the season, Urias tossed five shutout innings and held the Giants to four baserunners (two doubles, a single and a hit batsman) while striking out seven. In Colorado, Urias failed to get out of the fourth inning as he allowed four hits and walked four batters, giving up three runs in the process. Urias’ pitch count in each game was in the mid-70s (77 and 74, respectively), so don’t expect him to throw many more that that tonight.
Corbin Burnes starts for Milwaukee, who have had a very Dodger-y season so far. They started off 8-2, winning series against three divisional opponents. They were also swept in their last series, as they travelled to Anaheim and dropped three to the Angels. Burnes was a reliever in 2018, posting a 2.61 ERA and 1.000 WHIP in 30 relief appearances. He appeared for Milwaukee six times in the postseason and had five scoreless outings, three of which came against the Dodgers. In Game 2 of the NLCS, Burnes recorded the final out of the sixth inning. He came back out for the seventh and allowed a walk and a single. Another single drove in a run and knocked Burnes out of the game, and Jeremy Jeffress allowed one of his inherited runs to score.
Burnes has made two starts this season with some mixed results. In his first start against the Cardinals, he struck out 12 in five innings. However, he also allowed six hits and four runs, including three dingers. He also allowed three home runs in his second start against the Cubs, but allowed seven runs in five innings. According to Statcast, Burnes has thrown his 4-seam fastball nearly 54 percent of the time in 2019. Of the 17 Burnes fastballs that have been put in play, he’s allowed nine hits. Five of the six homers he’s surrendered have been off the fastball, so this could be an ideal matchup for a dong-happy Dodger team.
Good news for Dodger fans, as Corey Seager is in the lineup. He was removed from yesterday’s finale after being hit by a pitch in his hamstring. Max Muncy is out of the lineup, with Cody Bellinger playing first and Alex Verdugo starting in right. Yasmani Grandal makes his return to LA, batting fifth for the Brewers.
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Hill threw a simulated game.
With Hill and Kershaw on the mend, the Dodger rotation should be seeing improvement. Moving Urias and another starter (maybe Ross Stripling) to the bullpen should improve that as well.
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Tomorrow’s starter is still unknown.
Urias likely won’t go very deep in this game, so this is something to keep an eye on.
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This explains why Bellinger starts at first and Verdugo is getting a shot in right. Verdugo has been impressive this season, so getting him more playing time isn’t the worst thing in the world.
