Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (74-57) avoided getting swept in San Diego over the weekend as the offense came to life late on Sunday. Dalton Rushing‘s three-run bomb gave the Dodgers a seventh-inning lead, and Freddie Freeman and Shohei Ohtani homered to put the game out of reach for an 8-2 win. The Padres took two of three to move into a tie atop the West, but the Dodgers have the tiebreaker by winning nine of the 13 games against the Pads this season. The Dodgers have 31 games to put some distance between them and the Padres and catch up with the other division winners to earn a first round bye (currently 2.5 games back of the Phillies and 7 back of Milwaukee).
Today, they begin a six-game homestand with three against the Reds. The Reds (68-63) are fighting for a Wild Card spot, 1.5 games back of the Mets for the third and final spot. They’ve been a bit streaky of late and snapped a three-game losing streak with a win in Arizona yesterday. They’re a game over .500 (11-10) in August after finishing July a game over .500 (13-12) and despite an 18-17 record since the All-Star break, they’ve dropped from 7.5 games back of Milwaukee to 13 games. The Dodgers went to Cincinnati back in late-July and took two of three, winning the first two games before dropping the finale.
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| 7:10 P.M. | Los Angeles | ||
| CF | Friedl (L) | DH | Ohtani (L) |
| RF | Marte | SS | Betts |
| SS | De La Cruz (S) | 1B | Freeman (L) |
| LF | Hays | C | Smith |
| DH | Lux (L) | RF | T. Hernández |
| 1B | Steer | 3B | Freeland (S) |
| 3B | Hayes | LF | Conforto (L) |
| C | Trevino | CF | Pages |
| 2B | McLain | 2B | Rojas |
| P | Greene (R) | P | Sheehan (R) |
Emmet Sheehan gets the ball coming off a pair of rough starts in Anaheim and Colorado. Sheehan had allowed 10 earned runs over his first seven starts this season, but gave up five in Anaheim and four in Colorado. He was given a 7-0 lead in Colorado and was mostly fine, but allowed a two-run homer to Brenton Doyle in the fourth and a two-run homer for Kyle Karros‘ first career homer in the sixth. He’s become dinger-prone this month, with four of the five homers he’s allowed this season coming in August. Sheehan came in in relief in the finale in Cincinnati and struggled a bit with some help from Michael Conforto in left. He only allowed one walk in his first three innings of work and got the first two outs of the eighth, but a pair of walks and a foul ball that Conforto couldn’t catch gave the Reds life in the inning. Spencer Steer hit a ball to center that James Outman kept from being a homer, but it went for a triple to score two unearned runs (and a third came in charged to Sheehan after Blake Treinen came on in relief).
The Dodgers face an ace for the second straight game, as Hunter Greene gets the ball for the Reds. The LA native is making his 14th start this season after missing a bit more than two months with his second groin strain of the season. He’s made two starts since coming off the IL and has gone 6+ in both, throwing six shutout against the Phillies and allowing three in 6 1/3 in Anaheim. The Angels scored a run in the first inning off Greene, and he only allowed one other baserunner until the seventh. Jo Adell hit a leadoff homer, and after a strikeout Greene allowed a double to chase him from the game (and that double scored three batters later for his third earned run). He did match a season-high with 12 strikeouts in that game, but it was only his third start allowing more than two runs this season. All three of those starts have come away from Cincinnati and against some pretty bad teams (five runs against Baltimore, three against Colorado and three against the Angels).
Greene faced the Dodgers twice as a rookie and twice last season. He struggled in the two starts as a rookie, allowing 14 hits and eight runs and four homers over 10 1/3 innings. Last season was much better for Greene, allowing nine hits and three runs over 12 1/3 and picking up his first win against the Dodgers last time out.
When healthy, Greene’s been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season. Greene’s 99.3 MPH average fastball is the fastest among starters and the sixth-fastest among all qualified pitchers on Savant. He throws it 56.3 percent of the time and batters are hitting .218 with a .365 slugging against it (expected numbers .222 and .412, respectively). He’s thrown a slider 34.5 percent of the time and has a 48.6 percent whiff rate on it. Among starts with over 70 innings pitched, Greene’s 32.3 percent strikeout rate is the fourth-best and his 4.9 percent walk rate is the 10th-best in baseball. He does have the second-lowest ground ball rate (28.2 percent), so if the Dodgers do get baserunners hopefully they can avoid double plays.
Nothing too crazy with the lineup. Alex Freeland starts at third again and Miguel Rojas starts at second. For the Reds, old friend Gavin Lux hits fifth.
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Enrique Hernandez is back.
Buddy Kennedy was designated for assignment to make room for Hernandez, who returns after being out since July 5 with an elbow issue. He played five rehab games and went 5-for-14 with two walks and played center, left and third. The DFA opens up a 40-man roster spot. They have three guys on the 60-day IL that could feasibly return this season (Michael Kopech is likely the closest, Roki Sasaki and I’m still holding out hope for Brusdar Graterol).
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Some other updates regarding Blake Snell, Max Muncy and Tommy Edman.
-Tommy Edman will take on-field BP today and has been progressing well hitting-wise. His running/mobility has been slower to come along, but he's still on track for a return in early September.
— Sonja Chen (@SonjaMChen) August 25, 2025
Snell’s wife gave birth to their second child and he’s expected to return from the paternity list to make his start Friday in the opener against Arizona. Muncy will hit on the field tomorrow and could return when the Dodgers hit the road next week. Edman’s still on track to return in early September and was scheduled to take BP on the field today.
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First pitch is at 7:10 PM PT and will be on SportsNet LA.
