Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodger offense has been pretty not great in San Diego so far. They’ve scored two runs in each of the first two games and have combined to go 0-11 with runners in scoring position. Clayton Kershaw struggled in game one of the series, but Dustin May shoved last night and evened up the series to keep the Dodgers in sole possession of first place early on in the season.
Tonight, the Dodgers wrap up their first series against the Padres and look to win their third consecutive series with a primetime game on ESPN.
 |
 |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 4:10 PM | San Diego | ||
| RF | Betts | RF | Tatis Jr. |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | 3B | Machado |
| C | Smith | LF | Soto (L) |
| 3B | Muncy (L) | SS | Bogaerts |
| DH | Heyward (L) | DH | Cruz |
| CF | Outman (L) | 1B | Cronenworth (L) |
| 2B | Vargas | 2B | Kim |
| LF | Peralta (L) | C | Nola |
| SS | Taylor | CF | Engel |
| P | Urias (L) | P | Musgrove (R) |
Julio Urias gets the ball in the series finale. Urias had a couple rough outings on the last road trip, as he allowed 11 runs in nine innings over two starts in Chicago and Pittsburgh. That ballooned his ERA from 1.90 to 4.41. He bounced back in a big way his last time out against the Phillies. He turned in his best start of the season, as the only hit over seven innings against him was a Trea Turner solo homer and his 10 strikeouts were more than he had in the starts against the Cubs and Pirates combined.
Urias was excellent in four regular season starts against the Padres last season. He made four starts and allowed a total of four runs, allowing multiple runs only once. Three of the four runs he allowed came on Manny Machado solo homers, including a two homer game on September 10. The Dodgers won all his regular season starts against the Padres and he got the lone Dodger win in the postseason for the Dodgers. He allowed three runs in five innings in game 1 of the NLDS, with all three runs coming in the fifth. Wil Myers led off with a homer and he allowed hits to Jake Cronenworth and Ha-Seong Kim. A groundout and a flyout scored two more runs, and he finished the inning and kept the Dodgers up 5-3, which ended up being the final score.
Joe Musgrove makes his third start of the season after dropping a weight on his foot in the Spring. His first start went alright, as he allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings against the Diamondbacks. His ERA ballooned after his start in Mexico City, where he allowed seven runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings. Musgrove made his first All-Star team last year, with a 2.93 ERA/3.59 FIP in 181 innings. He made three starts against the Dodgers last season and was mostly solid despite the Padres losing all three of those games, with Musgrove taking the loss in two of them. He allowed three runs and struck out 10 in seven innings in his first look against the Dodgers last June. He allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings in his second start against them last September. In his final regular season start against the Dodgers, Musgrove tossed five scoreless innings but issued four walks and needed 106 pitches to get through those five innings. He started the decisive game 4 in the NLDS against the Dodgers and allowed a pair of runs in six innings. He left the game losing, but the Padres scored five in the seventh to go ahead for good.
Max Muncy returns to third base with Jason Heyward serving as the DH tonight. Chris Taylor gets a start at short against a righty amid a hot streak.
——
The Dodgers may be opening next season abroad.
The Dodgers and Padres could open the 2024 season in South Korea. According to Kevin Acee’s post, Kim is massively popular in Korea and all Padre games are broadcast live.
——
J.D. Martinez update.
A few days ago, the Dodgers said he’d likely return in Milwaukee. That timeline has widened a bit and now he’s expected back in the lineup by Friday, when the Dodgers and Padres square off again in LA.
======
First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM PT (I think? I’ve also seen 4:00 and 4:08) and will be shown on ESPN.
