Dodgers @ Phillies July 18, 2019: LA going for should-be sweep

The Dodgers took the third game of this 4-game series last night after a, as Chad said, 157-minute rain delay. They should be 3-for-3 against Philly, but Tuesday’s 9th-inning meltdown prevented that. Now, the Dodgers turn to Ross Stripling to take on the Phillies’ ace Aaron Nola.

	Dodgers			Phillies
	9:35 a.m.			Philadelphia
LF	Pederson		CF	Kingery
CF	Verdugo		SS	Segura
3B	Turner		RF	Harper
RF	Bellinger		1B	Hoskins
2B	Muncy		C	Realmuto
1B	Beaty		2B	Hernandez
SS	Hernandez		3B	Franco
C	Barnes		LF	Haseley
P	Stripling (R)		P	Nola (R)

Corey Seager is getting the day off. He’s hitting just .182/.308/.227 in 26 plate appearances since coming off the injured list. He’ll get it going again, just as he did just before getting hurt. Enrique Hernandez slides over to shortstop, Max Muncy moves to second base and Matt Beaty — Tuesday’s almost-hero — gets the start at first base.

The Phillies are running out nearly the same lineup they did in Game 1 of the series, with Adam Haseley in for the injured Jay Bruce.

Back to Nola for a moment. He’s one of the best, young pitchers in the game, but he got off to a bit of a slow start in 2019. Through June 15 (arbitrary end dates alert), he had a 4.89 ERA, an .800 OPS against and just a 15.04 K-BB%. Since then, he has looked every bit like the young ace he is. He has a 0.76 ERA, .466 OPS against and a 22.14 K-BB%. He’s averaging more than seven innings per start, so the Dodgers will have some work to do against the locked-in Nola.

——

Dodgers recalled left-handed pitcher Caleb Ferguson and optioned right-handed pitcher Casey Sadler to Triple-A Oklahoma City.

— AlaNNa Rizzo (@alannarizzo) July 18, 2019

This isn’t surprising, as the Dodgers needed seven innings from the bullpen to get through last night’s game. Since going back to Triple-A at the end of June, Caleb Ferguson hasn’t allowed a run in 6 1/3 innings. He has also struck out nine against just three walks. Hopefully he’s back and has figured out whatever was causing him to pitch poorly earlier this season.

This from @azfreedman re: @will_smith30
Asked manager Travis Barbary about this a little while ago. Pitch actually hit him in the palm below his thumb, not the wrist. Swelled up pretty good, but is not considered serious at the moment and he could even be used today if necessary.

— Ron Cervenka (@Think_BlueLA) July 18, 2019

Will Smith was hit by a pitch while catching last night and came out of the game after “airmailing” a couple of warm-up throws. Worst-case scenario is everyone’s first thought, but it seems like his hand/wrist is OK. Big sigh of relief here. Now, when does he get to LA (for good)?

——

Finally, today’s game is exclusively on YouTube. Orel Hershiser is doing color commentary. It’s the first-ever game on the platform. Cool.