Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After narrowly securing a win in the first game of the series against the Minnesota Twins (49-52), the Dodgers (59-43) managed to drop the second game by a score of 10-7, despite putting up seven runs in a Yoshinobu Yamamoto start. Yamamoto allowed just one earned run across five innings and the offense knocked Simeon Woods Richardson out of the game before he recorded an out in the fourth inning. Surely that resulted in a very likely win, right? As has been the case with the Dodgers as of late, they found multiple ways to lose a game that was very winnable if they had just played clean, smart, reasonable baseball and threw some strikes. That’s a bit too much to ask for at the moment though, apparently. Chad covered some of the embarrassments that happened in last night’s game in his recap. Ultimately, it’s just one game of 162, but it’s been a very rough stretch as of late. Tyler Glasnow looks to secure the Dodgers a series victory before they head to Boston (54-49) this weekend. The right-handed Chris Paddack will be on the mound for the Twins as they look to remain in the AL Wild Card chase.
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| 1:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| CF | Buxton | SS | Betts |
| LF | Castro (S) | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| RF | Larnach (L) | RF | T. Hernández |
| C | Jeffers | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| 2B | Clemens (L) | LF | Pages |
| 1B | France | C | Rushing (L) |
| DH | Wallner (L) | 2B | Kim (L) |
| 3B | Lewis | 3B | Edman (S) |
| SS | Lee (S) | CF | Outman (L) |
| P | Paddack (R) | P | Glasnow (R) |
Dalton Rushing gets the start as Will Smith has the day off. Michael Conforto also has the day off while Andy Pages slides over to left field. James Outman starts in center field again, while Teoscar Hernández returns to the lineup after a day off. Tommy Edman starts at third base over Miguel Rojas, and Hyeseong Kim remains at second base.
After a ninth inning two-run homer off Jhoan Duran, Shohei Ohtani has now homered in four consecutive games for the first time in his career. Those are his only hits in three of those four games, but finding his power stroke again after a bit of a cold spell is promising. Pages has homered in back-to-back games and looks to be finding some rhythm at the plate again as well. Freddie Freeman added a hit and two walks in his first game without a strikeout in a week. Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come as well.
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Here’s how Glasnow and Paddack have fared this season.
Paddack took his ninth loss of the season his last time out against the Rockies, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks across five innings. It’s been a terrible stretch for him as of late, allowing at least four runs in five of his previous seven outings, resulting in an 8.55 ERA, and a 1.72 WHIP over 33.2 innings. Across eight career appearances against the Dodgers, Paddack has a 6.63 ERA over 36.2 innings pitched. This should be one of the easier pitchers the Dodgers face, and they have a clear advantage on the mound. They’ll still need to execute however, something they’ve struggled to do for over a few weeks now.
Glasnow received the loss his last time out despite a great outing against the Brewers, due to the state of the Dodgers’ offense. He allowed just one run on four hits and one walk with six strikeouts over six innings. He’s now made two starts (both against the Brewers) since returning from the injured list, and has allowed just one earned run over 11.0 innings with eleven strikeouts to four walks. He threw 85 pitches his last time out, so it’s likely that he’s no longer on any sort of pitch limit.
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Great news on Tanner Scott as it seems he’s likely to return in just a few weeks. The classic “dodged a bullet” quote by Dave Roberts rings true here. Hopefully he comes out of this IL stint rested and ready for a dominant stretch run.
Ben Casparius could likely use an IL stint just to get some rest and ensure he’s fully recovered, but either way it’s good to see he avoided any serious injury.
It’s uncertain whether or not Roki Sasaki returns this season and it’s also uncertain what capacity that would be in, but as long as he’s trending in the right direction it’s a positive update.
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First pitch is at 1:10 PT on SNLA.
