Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Yesterday’s game was bad. I’m not saying that the Dodgers *should* walk Christian Yelich every plate appearance forever but I’m not not saying that. Anyways. Barring a wild trade, this is the final time the Dodgers will have to deal with Yelich (and the Brewers) in the regular season. Yesterday, the Brewers clinched the season series with their fourth victory over the Dodgers in 2019. However, the Dodgers can still win this series with an Easter victory.
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Dodgers |
Brewers
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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11:10 p.m.
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Milwaukee, WI.
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LF
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Pederson |
CF
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Cain | |
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SS
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Seager |
RF
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Yelich | |
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3B
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Turner |
LF
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Braun | |
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RF
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Bellinger |
C
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Grandal | |
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1B
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Muncy |
1B
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Aguilar | |
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2B
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Hernández |
2B
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Perez | |
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CF
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Verdugo | 3B | Shaw | |
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C
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Barnes |
SS
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Arcia | |
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P
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Kershaw (L) |
P
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Woodruff (R) |
Clayton Kershaw starts today on an extra day’s rest, as Hyun-Jin Ryu returned yesterday. Kershaw looked pretty sharp in first start of the season, tossing seven innings of two-run ball on Monday. He allowed a first-inning homer (to Yasiel Puig, of course), but faced only two batters over the minimum over the next six innings and struck out six without issuing a walk. Brim went in-depth about Kershaw’s outing, and the Spark Notes version of it is basically that Kershaw is still pretty good.
Kershaw saw the Brewers twice in the regular season and three times in the NLCS in 2018, with mostly good results. He had a clunker of a start in Game 1 of the NLDS, as he allowed four earned runs in three innings. He appeared in Games 5 and 7 (as a closer) of the series as well, and allowed one run, three hits and two walks in eight innings combined. He went six innings in each of his regular season starts against the Brewers last season and allowed three runs total.
Brandon Woodruff gets his fifth start for the Brewers this season. He’s faced the Cardinals twice and allowed two runs in each of those starts. In his two outings against the not-Cardinals, Woodruff has allowed four runs each. Woodruff is perhaps best known by Dodger fans for taking Kershaw deep in Game 1 of last year’s NLCS, but he fared pretty well on the hill against the Dodgers as well. He pitched three times in relief and had two scoreless two-inning outings. His third relief appearance was weird, as he relieved Wade Miley after one batter. He went 5 1/3 innings in that “relief” appearance and allowed three runs. Woodruff also has five hits in seven plate appearances this year with two doubles.
A.J. Pollock gets the day off for the Dodgers with Alex Verdugo getting the start in center. Enrique Hernandez also returns to the lineup after not starting the two middle games of the series.
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Russell Martin and Rich Hill will both be returning next weekend.
Martin will be with the team in Chicago and not go on a rehab assignment. Hill will take Ross Stripling‘s spot in the rotation after Stripling’s next start. He’ll pitch in an extended spring start tomorrow.
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The Dodgers finally have an off day tomorrow, their first since April 4th. They’ll open up a three-game series in Chicago on Tuesday before returning home for a weekend series against the Pirates, who somehow have the best winning percentage in the National League.
