Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers lost their first series in weeks in New York, as they dropped two of three in a series with a decent playoff atmosphere. The Dodgers shot themselves in the foot in the finale, as defensive miscues and a good old fashioned TOOTBLAN helped the Mets hold on to a 5-3 win.
Tonight, the Dodgers welcome the Padres back to LA. The Dodgers swept them the last time the two teams squared off in the first series after the Trade Deadline. The sweep put the Dodgers 16 games up in the West, and since then they’ve grown that lead to 18. It’s “down” to 18 games right now, as the Padres are coming off sweeping the Giants. It’s a longshot for the divisional race to become tight, despite the Padres and Dodgers squaring off nine more times this season including tonight. The Padres only sit three games ahead of Milwaukee for the third and final Wild Card spot, so the Dodgers could have a lot to say about that.
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| 7:10 PM | Los Angeles | ||
| LF | Profar (S) | RF | Betts |
| RF | Soto (L) | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| 3B | Machado | C | Smith |
| DH | Bell (S) | DH | Muncy (L) |
| 2B | Cronenworth (L) | 3B | Turner |
| 1B | Drury | LF | Gallo (L) |
| CF | Grisham (L) | 2B | Taylor |
| SS | Kim | CF | Bellinger (L) |
| C | Nola | SS | Alberto |
| P | Darvish (R) | P | May (R) |
Dustin May gets his third start off the IL and his first look at a team other than the Marlins. May increased his workload to 86 pitches last time out, as he completed six innings and allowed two runs and five hits in the loss. Most of the damage came in that sixth and final inning, as he allowed hit a batter and allowed three of his five hits in that inning.
In searching for that video on Twitter, I was reminded the initial reports of the Manny Machado-to-LA trade included May. It is … a good thing that didn’t happen.
Opposing May is Yu Darvish, who the Dodgers have already seen three times this season. Darvish’s first start against the Dodgers this season was phenomenal, as he allowed only one run (and three walks) over six shutout innings with seven strikeouts. The Dodgers got some revenge the next time they met, tagging Darvish for five runs and three dongs in six innings (although he did strike out 10). Darvish was solid in the Padres’ last visit to LA, as he allowed two runs over six innings but took the loss as the Padres were shut out. Darvish allowed 15 runs in five August starts and has thrown 100 or more pitches in 14 of his last 17 outings, with a 3.01 ERA/3.15 FIP in that time.
For the first time this season, I had to edit the shortstop section of the lineup graphic. Trea Turner gets his first day off of the season. Gavin Lux was in the original lineup, but was scratched for Hanser Alberto.
If Turner doesn’t re-sign, clearly this is why.
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Blake Treinen is back.
Treinen is back in the majors for the first time since April 14 as he was dealing with a shoulder issue that was kinda never officially diagnosed. He made seven rehab appearances at AAA and reports were that he looked fine. His fireman role has been taken by Evan Phillips so it’s not exactly vital for Treinen to get back to the unhittable level he was at last season, but he’s still a boost to a bullpen that just lost Brusdar Graterol again for an unknown amount of time.
Jake Reed was designated for assignment, meaning he’ll be a Met by Labor Day.
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Promising news on Tony Gonsolin.
His MRI was encouraging and he will play catch today. Michael Grove was solid in his emergency spot start on Monday, and it remains to be seen whether the Dodgers will shift to a five-man rotation or stick with six, either with Grove or someone else (like Ryan Pepiot, who was scratched from his start for OKC today and is now scheduled to pitch Sunday).
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First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PT and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.
