Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
For the second night in a row, the Dodgers (53-25) beat the Colorado Rockies (40-36) via a walkoff homer. With the team looking for a sweep, Kenta Maeda will take the mound against the Rockies right-hander, Antonio Senzatela.
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Rockies
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Dodgers
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1:10 p.m.
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Los Angeles
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LF
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Tapia |
1B
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Pederson | |
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CF
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Hampson |
CF
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Verdugo | |
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RF
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Dahl |
3B
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Turner | |
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1B
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Murphy |
RF
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Bellinger | |
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2B
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McMahon |
2B
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Muncy | |
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SS
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Rodgers |
LF
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Beaty | |
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C
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Wolters | SS | Hernandez | |
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3B
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Valaika |
C
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Barnes | |
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P
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Senzatela (R) |
P
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Maeda (R) |
Alex Verdugo and Matt Beaty, the two heroes of the series so far are both starting again today. The only real variation in the lineup today is slotting in Austin Barnes over Russell Martin, and Enrique Hernandez over Chris Taylor.
Senzatela (5.09 ERA, 5.55 FIP) has been decent for the Rockies the previous two seasons, but is struggling thus far. He has just 40 strikeouts over his 70.2 innings, giving him the second lowest strikeout-rate (12.6%) in baseball, second only to Brett Anderson. Additionally, his walk-rate of 10.4% is the 12th highest of 114 qualified starters. This all equates to the third highest WHIP in the league at 1.63. It’s been a rough season for him, and facing the Dodgers isn’t exactly catching a break.
Kenta Maeda (3.87 ERA, 4.12 FIP) hasn’t been his usual self yet this season, but he’s still been a solid part of the rotation. He has the ability to perform better than he has, and prior to his blowup start against the Angels, he had been trending in the right direction for a handful of starts. He’s coming off a decent start against the Giants, where he allowed two runs on three hits over five innings. He has a good opportunity today to take advantage of a Rockies lineup that is without Nolan Arenado, Charlie Blackmon, Ian Desmond, and Trevor Story.
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Over the next day or two like Roberts said, it’ll become more readily apparent as to what Tuesday’s pitching strategy is.
David Freese had been playing slightly banged up for a while now, so Will Smith returns and also offers another right-handed bat.
Scott Alexander returning and being good again would be a huge boost to a currently spotty pen.
Corey Seager was apparently throwing on the field today which is obviously encouraging to see. They’ll be very cautious with him, but this is progress.
First pitch is at 1:10 PT on SNLA.
