Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (77-53) lost the second game of this three game series against the Tampa Bay Rays (65-64) by a score of 9-8 in extra-innings. Clayton Kershaw wasn’t sharp and the Dodgers were down 4-0 in the first inning, but they battled back to take a 6-5 lead by the sixth inning. They added just one more after that before Michael Kopech gave up one run in the eighth, and Evan Phillips gave up a game tying solo homer to Junior Caminero in the ninth. For some reason, Dave Roberts brought in Joe Kelly for the tenth inning, a questionable decision with Anthony Banda and Daniel Hudson supposedly available. Kelly has proven he isn’t particularly trustworthy, but he’s reached Pedro Báez levels with inherited runners. It wasn’t the spot for him. Anyways, he gave up a two-run homer to a struggling José Caballero in the tenth, and the Dodgers couldn’t match that in the bottom of the inning. Gavin Stone will get the ball in the rubber match up against the rookie left-hander Jacob Lopez, who will be making his first start of the year.
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|---|---|---|---|
| 1:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| DH | Díaz | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| 1B | B. Lowe (L) | RF | Betts |
| 3B | Caminero | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| LF | J. Lowe (L) | LF | T. Hernández |
| RF | DeLuca | SS | Edman (S) |
| C | Rortvedt (L) | 3B | Muncy (L) |
| 2B | Caballero | CF | K. Herenández |
| SS | Walls (S) | C | Feduccia (L) |
| CF | Siri | 2B | Taylor |
| P | Bradley (R) | P | Kershaw (L) |
Kiké Hernández will get just his fifth start in center field this season, with Tommy Edman starting at short. Generally on Miguel Rojas off days you’d have Kevin Kiermaier in center with Edman at short against right-handed pitchers, but with the lefty on the mound today, Kiké will get the start in center. Chris Taylor will start at second base over Gavin Lux today, making his first start since 7/24.
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Gavin Stone had been seriously struggling for a little over a month, with a 6.91 ERA over six starts beginning in July, before seeming to break out of it his last two times out. August 13 against the Brewers he went five innings allowing just one run on three hits with six strikeouts, earning his tenth win of the year. He improved upon that in his last outing, going seven scoreless innings on just two hits and two walks with a career high ten strikeouts against the Mariners. Yes it’s the Mariners and they can’t hit, but good pitchers should take advantage of that and that’s exactly what Stone did. He’ll look to keep his strong run of form going today.
Lopez is joining the Rays today in replacement for Shane Baz, who was scratched from today’s start with the flu. He made one start for the Rays last year in one of his four appearances in which he had a 4.38 ERA over 12.1 innings. He’s made three appearances for Tampa Bay this year, with an 8.44 ERA in 5.1 innings pitched. He has performed well in Triple-A for the Durham Bulls, with a 4.08 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and 84 strikeouts in 70.2 innings. It seems he’s mainly a sinker-slider reliever sitting just above 90 MPH with the sinker, and in the high-70’s with the slider. He throws a changeup as well, which he’ll probably mix in today as a starter, but if he’s in the bullpen long term he’s probably going to be a two-pitch weird arm slot lefty – a Tampa Bay special.
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Great news on Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Timeline is lining up well for him. Looks like if everything goes well he’s probably about three weeks out from a possible return.
Good news for Brusdar Graterol, probably need him taking Kelly’s innings.
Theoretically Tony Gonsolin could make it back in time in a relief role, but I doubt they’d want to rush him back for any reason. Maybe as a Kelly replacement though.
Sounds like Shohei Ohtani is progressing well on his timeline to join the rotation in 2025. Nice to have your 40/40 player as a sub-3 ERA starter as well.
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It’s extra rest season.
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First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. on SNLA.
