Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (69-53) won the first game of this crucial series against the San Diego Padres (69-53) last night in a tense 3-2 game, with Jack Dreyer inducing the final out with the tying run on first base. This brings the season series record to 6-2 in favor of the Dodgers, needing just one more win over the final five between these two sides to secure the tiebreak, should it be necessary. This would be a significant advantage to have as the NL West looks like it might come down to the wire. Blake Snell will be on the mound looking to secure the series victory, while Dylan Cease will start for the Padres.
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| 6:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| RF | Tatis Jr. | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| 1B | Arraez (L) | SS | Betts |
| 3B | Machado | C | Smith |
| CF | Merrill (L) | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| SS | Bogaerts | RF | T. Hernández |
| LF | Laureano | CF | Pages |
| 2B | Cronenworth (L) | LF | Conforto (L) |
| DH | Iglesias | 3B | Freeland (S) |
| C | Fermin | 2B | Rojas |
| P | Cease (R) | P | Snell (L) |
The Dodgers will do something they very rarely do, which is run out the exact same lineup in back-to-back games. They had only four hits, with the top four going 0-for-12, although they most importantly had two RBI. Despite not coming up with the big hits, Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts each ensured that a runner crossed the plate, via a fielders choice and a sacrifice fly. Teoscar Hernández added what was ultimately the winning run in the seventh inning with a solo home run off Jeremiah Estrada. Michael Conforto, Alex Freeland, and Miguel Rojas combined for the remaining three hits outside of the solo shot, so any further production from the top four in the order should result in more runs.
The Padres will keep everything nearly the same as last night, with Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts simply switching spots in the order. Merrill had two of the Padres’ four hits last night, while the Dodgers’ potential deadline trade target, Ramon Laureano, had a solo shot.
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Here’s how Snell and Cease compare.
Cease came in fourth in NL Cy Young voting last year, with a 3.47 ERA, 3.10 FIP, a 1.07 WHIP, and 224 strikeouts in 189.1 innings pitched. Everything about his profile has taken a bit of step back this season, resulting in a 5-10 record through 24 starts. If he were replicating his 2024 season, San Diego would likely have a few more games in hand over the Dodgers, but unfortunately that hasn’t been the case.
His last time out, he allowed two runs on four hits and two walks over six innings against the Red Sox (68-56), picking up his second consecutive win. It was his first quality start since June 21, as he’s really struggled for consistency this year. That being said, arguably his best start of the year did come against the Dodgers back in June, going seven scoreless innings while allowing just three hits and five walks in addition to eleven strikeouts. The offense will need to be better than that today.
Snell earned the win his last time out, allowing three hits and three walks over five scoreless innings against the Blue Jays (73-51). He racked up ten strikeouts against the offense that avoids strikeouts better than any other team in the league, and notched his first double-digit strikeout game for the Dodgers. He was coming off of a great start against the Rays (60-63) where he looked stellar aside from the flukey home runs he allowed, and since returning from the IL he’s allowed just three runs in ten innings, with 18 strikeouts to three walks. He’ll look to continue his recent form in addition to getting deeper into the game tonight against his former team.
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Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott returning soon would be great. Even if they weren’t particularly inspiring confidence while they were healthy, it makes it easier on everyone else to spread the high leverage innings around more evenly.
With Max Muncy out, getting Hyeseong Kim back would be nice. He could help cover second base, rotating in with Alex Freeland and Miguel Rojas.
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First pitch is at 6:10 PT on SNLA.
