Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Three consecutive losses have dropped the Dodgers from a 106-win pace to a 100-win pace as they enter the second game of this 6-game road trip in Cincinnati and New York. Today’s 54th game of the season marks the first third of the regular season schedule being completed and the Dodgers hold a 6.5-game lead over the second-place Giants, so things could be worse. However, they also have yet to drop four straight games this season, with the last losing streak that long coming last June when they lost two games to the Yankees and then two games … on the road against the Reds.
It’ll be up to Walker Buehler to help the Dodgers (33-20) avoid losing a second consecutive series in Cincinnati after the Red (21-30) took two out of three last year. Another outing against the Reds like his most recent start last Saturday, when he held Cincinnati scoreless through 6 innings while striking out 7, would be just what the team needs. Buehler has hit 77, 77 and 78 pitches in his three starts this season with the first two against the Marlins and Padres lasting a combined 7 1/3 innings.
Opposing Buehler will be Hunter Greene, who allowed 2 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks across 6 1/3 innings against the Dodgers last Sunday. Greene didn’t face the Dodgers last year but did twice as a rookie in 2022. Those two outings included 8 earned runs allowed on 14 hits and 2 walks in 10 1/3 innings, so last Sunday was easily the best performance Greene has had against Los Angeles.
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| 4:15 P.M. | Cincinnati | ||
| SS | Betts | LF | Hurtubise (L) |
| DH | Ohtani (L) | SS | De La Cruz (S) |
| 1B | Freeman (L) | 3B | Candelario (S) |
| C | Smith | 1B | Steer |
| LF | T. Hernandez | RF | Fraley (L) |
| 2B | Lux (L) | C | Stephenson |
| RF | Heyward (L) | DH | Ford (L) |
| 3B | E. Hernandez | 2B | India |
| CF | Taylor | CF | Benson (L) |
| P | Buehler (R) | P | Greene (R) |
With only three career starts against the Dodgers, and only one of those in the past two seasons, not many Dodgers have much experience against Greene. Today’s lineup is a combined 4-for-40 with Freddie Freeman‘s home run being the only extra-base hit. Add in 16 strikeouts to 3 walks, and there’s really not much more to include here. Andy Pages had a solo homer last weekend off Greene, but he’s on the bench today.
With Pages most recent multi-hit game coming on May 4 against the Braves, and slashing .139/.186/.200/.386 across his last 70 plate appearances, Chris Taylor will get the start in center. Yes, Taylor is slashing .106/.231/.121/.352 in his 79 PAs this season and it’ll be his first appearance in center this season, but Pages had played in every game since being called up on April 16.
For the Reds, a right-hander in Buehler instead of yesterday’s left-handed James Paxton changes the lineup a bit. Stuart Fairchild, Santiago Espinal and Nick Martini are out of the order while Jake Fraley, Mike Ford and Will Benson are starting. Jacob Hurtubise goes from hitting 9th to leading off in his eighth career start.
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As for some news, first pitch for tomorrow’s game has been shifted up to 9:10 a.m. PT from 10:40 a.m. due to the potential for severe weather.
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First pitch today is set for 4:15 p.m. on FOX.
