Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (33-22) beat the Nationals (23-31) last night by a score of 6-1, netting Bobby Miller his second win in as many starts. Miller cruised in his Dodger Stadium debut, going six easy innings allowing just one run on four hits and one walk while striking out four. After a very tough and competitive road trip, the team will look to get back to their winning ways with a chance to win the series tonight against Washington. Tony Gonsolin will be making his seventh start of the year up against the rookie right-hander Jake Irvin.
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| 7:10 PM | Los Angeles | ||
| RF | Thomas | 2B | Betts |
| 2B | Garcia (L) | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| 3B | Candelario (S) | 3B | Muncy (L) |
| DH | Meneses | DH | Martinez |
| 1B | Smith (L) | RF | Heyward (L) |
| DH | Dickerson (L) | LF | Peralta (L) |
| C | Ruiz (S) | CF | Outman (L) |
| SS | Abrams (L) | SS | Rojas |
| CF | Vargas (S) | C | Barnes |
| P | Irvin (R) | P | Gonsolin (R) |
The Dodgers will send out their lefty heavy lineup against the right-handed Irvin, sliding Mookie Betts to second base with Jason Heyward, David Peralta, and James Outman all starting in the outfield. Max Muncy left Sunday’s game against the Rays with a hamstring cramp, but is back in the starting lineup after one day off. Will Smith will have the day off as Austin Barnes starts behind the plate.
The Nationals’ offense is interesting in the way that they feature a high average, accompanied with the lowest strikeout rate in baseball, yet are a below average offense due to a severe lack of power. They have the fifth lowest slugging percentage in baseball and have just 38 home runs on the year. For comparison, the Dodgers have the second most homers in baseball with 90, while the Nationals are ahead of only the Cleveland Guardians (30).
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Here’s how tonight’s starters matchup.
Gonsolin allowed three runs on three hits and two walks whiles striking out four batters over 5.2 innings last Wednesday against the Braves. He entered the contest having pitched 16 innings without allowing an earned run over his previous three starts, and he kept Atlanta off the scoreboard for three frames Wednesday. However, the scoreless streak ended with Matt Olson‘s mammoth solo homer in the fourth, and Marcell Ozuna added a two-run blast off the right-hander in the fifth. He still pitched well overall and yielded just one hit aside from the long balls, keeping his ERA at a great 1.82.
Irvin is making just his sixth start of the year tonight, most recently allowing two runs on two hits and four walks against the Padres. It’s a step in the right direction for Irvin after he allowed 10 runs in 7.1 innings over his previous two outings. He’s had issues with command thus far with 16 walks in his 22 innings, to go along with just 19 strikeouts. His repertoire is primarily comprised of three pitches, either a 4-seam fastball or sinker both in the low 90’s, and a high 70’s curveball as his primary off-speed pitch.
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Gavin Stone had a tough start to his big league career, having to matchup with the Braves, Rays, and Phillies. He’ll be fine, but getting him back to Triple-A to work on things is the right move, especially with the Yankees coming to town.
Looks like Alex Vesia has been pretty good down in OKC. The team could always use another high leverage reliever.
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This is very aggressive from the Dodgers, but Josue De Paula has massive upside and getting him appearances against stronger competition will be a good test for the kid.
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First pitch is at 7:10 PM PT on SNLA.
