Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers narrowly escaped being swept in Washington with a 6-5 victory on Wednesday to salvage a rough road trip. They dropped two of three against a very good Phillies team and then dropped two of three against a less very good Nationals team. The pitching depth was already being tested, with Justin Wrobleski and Landon Knack starting the final two games in Washington with pretty horrible results. Wrobo allowed five runs in the first two innings and was able to preserve the bullpen by getting through five, but allowed eight total runs. Knack only lasted 2 1/3 on Wednesday and allowed five runs, but the bullpen combined to allow one hit and three walks over 6 2/3 scoreless frames to leave the door open for a comeback win.
That win made the Dodgers the second team with 10 wins as they return home for a six-game homestand. They start the homestand against the Cubs, the team they faced in Tokyo to open the season. The Dodgers took the two games in Japan, but the Cubs have been much better since starting the domestic schedule. They split a four-game series in Arizona on opening weekend and have won the other three series they’ve played. The Dodgers won each of the Tokyo games by three, and despite that the Cubs currently have the highest run differential in baseball at +23. They’ve scored more runs than any other team (96 in 15 games, although the Yankees’ 82 runs in 12 games is a higher runs/game).
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| 7:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| LF | Happ (S) | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| RF | Tucker (L) | SS | Betts |
| DH | Suzuki | RF | T. Hernández |
| 1B | Busch (L) | RF | Freeman (L) |
| SS | Swanson | 2B | Edman (S) |
| 2B | Hoerner | C | Smith |
| CF | Crow-Armstrong (L) | LF | Conforto (L) |
| 3B | Shaw | CF | Pages |
| C | Amaya | 3B | Rojas |
| P | Boyd (L) | P | Yamamoto (R) |
Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets his fourth start of the season and has been excellent so far in 2025. He’s allowed three earned runs in three starts and is coming off a start in Philly where he only allowed one unearned run and three hits over six innings. Yamamoto got the start on Opening Day in Tokyo against these Cubs and allowed one run and three hits over five strong innings. The Cubs struck first in that game on a second inning Dansby Swanson single and Miguel Amaya double, but the Cubs only had two more baserunners (one infield single and one hit by pitch) over the final seven innings of the game. Yamamoto has registered double digit whiffs in each of his three starts this season and his splitter is currently running a 57.1 percent whiff rate, with 12 of his 19 strikeouts ending on that pitch.
Matthew Boyd‘s career got pretty sidetracked by injuries over the last few years. Boyd had flexor tendon surgery in September 2021 and returned out of the bullpen a year later for 10 appearances. In 2023, Boyd posted a 5.45 ERA over 15 starts before undergoing Tommy John surgery. He signed with the Guardians last June and posted a 2.72 ERA over eight starts before signing with the Cubs this offseason. Through two starts, that signing has paid off very well. Boyd hasn’t allowed a run in his 11 innings over two starts against the Diamondbacks and Padres. Last time out against San Diego, he only needed 85 innings to get through six innings for his first win as a Cub. Boyd’s last win before that game came last September against the Dodgers in LA, where he allowed a run and three hits over six innings. He allowed a double and hit Teoscar Hernandez with a pitch in the first, which were the only two baserunners he allowed over the first five innings. In the sixth, Shohei Ohtani got Boyd for his 45th homer of the year. That was Boyd’s first start against the Dodgers in his 11-year career, but he did allow a run in 1 1/3 innings in relief against the Dodgers back in 2017.
Freddie Freeman returns to the lineup, hitting fourth against a lefty. Hunter Feduccia was sent back to the minors yesterday to make room on the roster. Michael Conforto gets the start in left against a lefty, but Max Muncy sits with Miguel Rojas getting the start at third.
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A couple updates on Clayton Kershaw and Tony Gonsolin.
Dave Roberts said Clayton Kershaw will go out on a rehab assignment and pitch in the Minors on Wednesday. Tony Gonsolin’s next rehab start is Tuesday.
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) April 11, 2025
Kershaw will begin a rehab assignment on Wednesday. The most recent update made it seem like his arm was in good shape, but his toe was still holding him back, The earliest he can be activated is May 17, so he’ll have at least a month to rehab. Gonsolin will make his third rehab start on Tuesday after throwing 3 1/3 scoreless innings on Wednesday. He got up to 46 pitches in that start, so probably will take another rehab start or two before he rejoins the rotation. The hope is he gets to the fifth inning on Tuesday.
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First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PM PT and will be shown on SportsNet LA.
