Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers had one of their worst losses of the season last night, dropping the series opener against the Rockies. They missed out on a chance to capitalize on a Giants loss and move 1.5 games out of first place in the NL West, losing to a team that’s 16-47 on the road. The offense has been quiet for a few games and only mustered two runs and six hits against the Rockies pitching. Today, they look to turn things around and get back in the win column against a team they need to beat at this point in the season.
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| 6:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| LF | Joe | SS | T. Turner |
| 2B | Rodgers | 1B | Muncy (L) |
| SS | Story | 2B | Betts |
| 1B | Cron | 3B | J. Turner |
| C | Díaz | C | Smith |
| 3B | McMahon (L) | CF | Bellinger (L) |
| RF | Motter | LF | Taylor |
| CF | Hampson | RF | McKinney (L) |
| P | Gray (R) | P | Knebel (R) |
Corey Knebel starts tonight in a bit of a surprise. David Price was the originally scheduled starter, but Knebel will make his second bullpen game start of the season. Knebel came off the IL on August 10 and threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings over his first six outings. He was charged with three runs in 1 2/3 innings over two games in San Diego earlier this week. In April, Knebel made three appearances against the Rockies and didn’t allow a baserunner in 2 1/3 combined innings. Knebel’s topped out at 27 pitches this season. Price is expected to be the bulk guy today. He threw a season-high 75 pitches last time out.
Jon Gray makes his 24th start of the season tonight. Gray has a 4.13 ERA/3.98 FIP in 124 1/3 innings, and surprisingly been a better pitcher at Coors than away. Gray’s ERA is more than a run lower at Coors (3.67 vs 4.69) and opponents are OPSing .626 against him at Coors and .807 on the road. Gray has struggled in August, with a 6.75 ERA in four starts. He’s allowed three or more runs in each of his starts this month and is allowing an 8.28 OPS against.
This will be Gray’s fifth look at the Dodgers this season, and he’s been pretty good in each of his first four. Gray’s worst start of the four came in LA in April, when he allowed three runs and completed only four innings. Gray allowed a run over five innings in his first start of the season, against the Dodgers at Coors. He made consecutive starts against the Dodgers in July and turned in his longest start of the season in the first, a seven-inning two-run start in Colorado. He followed that up allowing two runs in five innings in LA. Gray is basically a two-pitch pitcher, throwing a fastball 47 percent of the time and a slider 38.3 percent of the time.
Corey Seager and AJ Pollock each get the day off. Trea Turner starts at short with Mookie Betts at second and Billy McKinney in right. Max Muncy is also back in the lineup after pinch-hitting yesterday. For the Rockies, Trevor Story is back in the lineup at short.
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Andre Jackson turned in another solid bulk outing yesterday. His reward was another demotion.
Edwin Uceta is back up, giving the Dodgers a fresh arm for their bullpen game. Jackson’s shown promise in his two Major League appearances, so it would be a surprise if he wasn’t back at some point in September.
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Clayton Kershaw came out of yesterday’s bullpen session in good shape.
Kershaw played catch again today and his next step could be facing live batters.
Tony Gonsolin threw a bullpen today and will face hitters on Monday. Gonsolin could also be a boost to a team that’s still using bullpen games a little too much for comfort.
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First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 PM PDT and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.
