Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers did it again last night, as an eighth-inning Cody Bellinger grand slam broke a 1-1 tie and propelled the Dodgers to a 5-1 victory (after Craig Kimbrel had to make it iffy, because of course he did). It was the 15th Dodger win in their last 17 games and kept the Dodgers 10.5 up on the Padres. Tonight, the Dodgers look to secure a series victory against the Giants.
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| 4:15 PM | Los Angeles | ||
| CF | Slater | RF | Betts |
| 2B | Flores | SS | T. Turner |
| DH | Ruf | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| 3B | Longoria | C | Smith |
| 1B | Belt (L) | DH | Alberto |
| SS | Estrada | 3B | Muncy (L) |
| LF | Mercedes | LF | Thompson |
| RF | Gonzalez | CF | Bellinger (L) |
| C | Bart | 2B | Lux (L) |
| P | Wood (L) | P | Urias (L) |
Julio Urias makes his first start of the second half. He was one of two Dodger starting pitchers not named to the All-Star team, but posted a 2.89 ERA in 96 2/3 innings in the first half. His ERA skyrocketed after a disaster start against the Cubs two turns ago, where Urias allowed five runs in two innings. He brought it back under 3.00 last time out, with seven innings of one-run ball in Anaheim in the final game of the first half.
Urias took a tough-luck loss in San Francisco on June 12. He allowed two runs in six innings and struck out a season-high 10 batters, but the Dodgers were blanked by Carlos Rodon and three relievers. Urias gave up two solo homers, to Austin Slater and Mike Yastrzemski (the latter is not in the lineup today).
Opposing Urias this time is old friend Alex Wood. Wood hasn’t quite captured the magic of last season, as he owns a 4.20 ERA in 90 innings this year. His FIP is 3.10 and opponents are only OPSing .686 against him, so it’s not like he’s been terrible. He’s been on a hot streak in July, as he’s allowed one earned run (and three unearned) in 16 2/3 innings across three starts. Wood started in LA in May and allowed three hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings before the bullpen came in and allowed six more in a 9-1 Dodger victory.
Wood throws three pitches- a sinker (46.9 percent), slider (33.7 percent) and change (19.4 percent). Wood is one of nine pitchers with 90 or more innings pitched this season and a ground ball rate of over 50 percent.
Hanser Alberto starts and hits fifth for the Dodgers against a lefty. Gavin Lux and Bellinger both start, and Justin Turner remains out of the lineup.
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Blake Treinen threw a bullpen today and will likely throw one more before being cleared to face live batters. Chris Taylor took BP today, but has yet to run which seems like an important step in playing baseball. Taylor could head on a rehab assignment this weekend.
Andrew Heaney allowed five hits and two runs in his rehab start on Thursday. He’ll likely be back next week, but Mitch White will probably remain in the rotation to give the Dodger pitchers extra rest. Turner is out of the lineup today and will be tomorrow, and could be placed on the IL.
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Is it a hot take to say the Dodgers have one of, if not the worst city connect uniforms out there?
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This feels lower than I expected. With the deadline a week from next Tuesday, it’ll be interesting to see where the rumors end up (and whether the Nats just leave Soto in LA when they play here next week).
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First pitch is scheduled for 4:15 and will be shown on Fox.
