Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers bounced back last night with a 7-4 victory to even the series against the Rangers. Today, the Dodgers look to remain the only team in baseball that hasn’t lost a series in 2020 with a victory in the rubber match. It would be the most Dodger thing to not lose a series all season and then drop 2/3 to a team with a .400 winning percentage in the first round of the playoffs. Chad’s cynicism has rubbed off on me.
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| 11:35 a.m. | Arlington | ||
| DH | Betts | LF | Choo (L) |
| SS | Seager (L) | 2B | Solak |
| 3B | Muncy (L) | DH | Trevino |
| 1B | Bellinger (L) | RF | Gallo (L) |
| CF | Pollock | 3B | Frazier |
| RF | Pederson (L) | SS | Kiner-Falefa |
| LF | Taylor | 1B | Guzman (L) |
| C | Smith | CF | Taveras (S) |
| 2B | Lux | C | Mathis |
| P | Gonsolin (R) | P | Gibson (R) |
Tony Gonsolin has been recalled (more on that roster move later) and will start the getaway game in Texas. Gonsolin will be making his fourth start of the season, and has yet to allow a run in 14 2/3 innings pitched this season (intrasquad game luckily does not count). Gonsolin’s last major league appearance was the best of his young career, as he threw six shutout frames and allowed only two baserunners (two singles, one of which was erased on a TOOTBLAN, and a HBP). Gonsolin’s fastball averaged 95.4 MPH in that start, which was the highest average velo of his career.
Kyle Gibson gets his seventh start of the season for the Rangers. The 32-year-old righty is coming off a rough start. He allowed five runs in the first five innings and recorded an out in the sixth, but left two baserunners on that eventually came around to score. A season=high seven runs were charged to Gibson, jumping his ERA a full run. He wasn’t exactly dominant before that, as he’s allowed under three runs in only one of his six starts (surprisingly, in Colorado).
Gibson has spent his entire eight year career in the American League, so this is only his second career start against the Dodgers. His first came in 2014, where he allowed five runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings. Chris Withrow, Brian Wilson and Paco Rodriguez all appeared in that game for the Dodgers, if you’re wondering how far the bullpen has come.
Gibson is primarily s sinkerballer, but also throws a slider, four seam, changeup and curveball. He doesn’t get a lot of whiffs (only 21 percent whiff rate this season) and his expected batting average against of .323 is one of the worse in the majors. All this to say, five no-hit innings tonight.
For the Dodgers, Justin Turner remains out of the lineup with a hamstring. Roberts stated the best case for Turner would be a return to the lineup as the DH Tuesday in Arizona.
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Here’s that roster move.
Josh Sborz was optioned to make room for Gonsolin. He pitched a scoreless inning in the first game of the doubleheader in San Francisco.
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Some updates on some injured arms.
Pedro Baez and Joe Kelly are still a ways away from returning from their injuries (plus an extra five games for Kelly’s suspension. Walker Buehler threw a bullpen session and could return Thursday.
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With the trade deadline tomorrow, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Dodgers didn’t make any moves.
This team is p good, so it’s tough to see an obvious need for upgrade. Lance Lynn could be a nice pickup (and a team can always use bullpen help), but the Dodgers are in a pretty good spot as is.
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Prior to today, the West had been the only baseball pseudo-bubble that hadn’t had a game impacted by a positive Covid test.
The Oakland A’s had a positive test in their organization, and their game today in Houston has been postponed. The A’s played in Arlington against the Rangers before the Dodgers arrived, so it’ll be interesting/terrifying to see where the positive case came from or who has been in contact with that positive. Here’s hoping that case is contained.
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In other NL West news, the Padres have been busy. After trading for Trevor Rosenthal yesterday, they moved two prospects to Boston for Mitch Moreland.
We are not worthy.
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First pitch is scheduled for 11:35 AM and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.
