Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers got another strong pitching performance last night, as Bobby Miller the first two baserunners to reach (one of whom eventually came around to score) before retiring the next 18 batters. He was pulled after six at only 74 pitches, a move made to help save some innings in his arm as he approaches a new career-high. The Dodger offense also scored five in the bottom of the sixth, which surely made that decision a bit easier. Ryan Yarbrough got the final nine outs and the Dodgers won their ninth straight. They didn’t get any help as the Giants and Diamondbacks both won, but have already gotten some help today as Tampa Bay took the rubber match in San Francisco. A win tonight would give the Dodgers a 10th straight victory and a 10 game lead in the NL West.
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| 7:10 PM | Los Angeles | ||
| LF | Yelich (L) | RF | Betts |
| C | Contreras | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| 1B | Santana (S) | C | Smith |
| DH | Canha | DH | Martinez |
| SS | Adames | 2B | Rosario |
| 2B | Monasterio | 3B | Muncy (L) |
| RF | Frelick (L) | CF | Hernández |
| CF | Wiemer | LF | Taylor |
| 3B | Anderson | SS | Rojas |
| P | Miley (L) | P | Kershaw (L) |
Clayton Kershaw gets his second start back off the IL. He got eased into his return last Thursday, as he held the Rockies to a run and three hits over five innings. He held them scoreless through four, but allowed a two-out solo homer to lose his shutout in the fifth. He got through the five innings on 67 pitches, and the Dodgers opted to give him an extra day of rest before his next start. He also threw a few changeups?
All three of Clayton Kershaw's split changeups. pic.twitter.com/03gxj58GZa
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 11, 2023
It’ll be interesting to see if he was just testing some things out against the Rockies or if he actually just took a month off to learn a new pitch.
Kershaw turned in one of his best starts of the season in Milwaukee back in May, as he held them to a run and five hits over seven innings. In his career, he’s held the Brewers to a .211/.268/.367 slash line and owns a 2.97 ERA over 106 innings. Depending on the level of stress in this game, Kershaw could be available for 80-90 pitches tonight
Old foe Wade Miley gets the ball for the Brewers. Miley’s 2.90 ERA would be the second-best of his 13-year career and is the ninth-best in baseball among pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched. However, the underlying numbers don’t exactly match up with the ERA. Miley has a 4.42 FIP and 4.69 xERA and has only struck out 17 percent of batters faced. Miley’s been dominant (or lucky) with runners on, as opponents are OPSing .571 against him with runners on and only .373 against him with runners in scoring position (with BABIP’s of .207 and .163, respectively)
Miley’s allowed three or fewer runs in 13 of his 15 starts this season and has allowed only two runs in his last three outings (16 innings combined). His worst start of the season did come against the Dodgers in May, as he allowed seven runs and six hits in five innings. Freddie Freeman, Will Smith and Miguel Vargas each took him deep.
Miley primarily throws three different pitches. He throws a cutter 44.2 percent of the time, four seamer 22.8 percent of the time and a changeup 21.5 percent, almost exclusively against righties. He’s mixed a curve, slider and sinker, but each at or around five percent of the time.
The Dodgers run out a relatively normal lineup against lefties, with Amed Rosario starting at second and Enrique Hernandez in center.
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Joe Kelly update.
Dave Roberts said Joe Kelly is going to throw a bullpen session on Friday.
— Matthew Moreno (@Matthew__Moreno) August 16, 2023
Kelly will throw a bullpen on Friday in his first action since hitting the IL with a forearm injury.
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Normal things happening at Dodger Stadium.
You never know what you’ll see at the ballpark. pic.twitter.com/jS72H1OQkB
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 16, 2023
Is this a sign the Dodgers will pony up for Shohei Ohtani? Idk, it’s too hot to come up with a better pun.
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First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PT and will be shown on SportsNet LA.
