Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers bullpen’d their way through a Coors-ass game last night for their fourth consecutive victory and their 37th win of the season. Tonight, the Dodgers look for another series win and look to shrink their magic number for the NL West to three (or two with some help from Seattle).
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| 5:10 P.M. | Denver | ||
| RF | Betts | LF | Tapia (L) |
| 1B | Muncy (L) | SS | Story |
| DH | Turner | 3B | Arenado |
| CF | Bellinger (L) | RF | Blackmon (L) |
| SS | Taylor | CF | Pillar |
| LF | Pollock | 1B | Fuentes |
| 3B | Ríos (L) | DH | Kemp |
| 2B | Lux (L) | 2B | Hampson |
| C | Barnes | C | Butera |
| P | Kershaw (L) | P | Gonzalez (R) |
Clayton Kershaw gets the ball today for what figures to be his second-to-last tuneup before the postseason. Kershaw’s final line in his last start didn’t really reflect how great he looked against the Padres. He was charged with three runs in 6 1/3 innings down in San Diego. Kershaw cruised through five before allowing a homer to Trent Grisham to tie the game. Kershaw then allowed two singles in the seventh and was replaced by Pedro Baez. I’ve long been a Baez defender, but I would really prefer to never type the words “Kershaw was relieved in the seventh inning by Baez” again in my life. Baez allowed both inherited runners to score, giving Kershaw two more earned runs (and then the wheels fell off and the Dodgers lost 7-2).
Kershaw has yet to face the Rockies in 2020. He only pitched at Coors Field once in 2019, and allowed four runs over seven innings. Unsurprisingly, Kershaw owns his worst career ERA at Coors. In 22 career starts at Satan Field, Kershaw owns a 4.60 ERA which is technically the second highest at any stadium he’s ever pitched at (shoutout his 9.82 ERA in 3 2/3 innings at Shea Stadium).
Opposing Kershaw will be Chi Chi Gonzalez. Gonzalez will be making his third start and fifth appearance overall this season, and it’ll be his first look at a team other than the Giants or Padres. The 28-year-old righty has a unique outing in his last start. Gonzalez walked the first three batters he faced before recording a strikeout, and then hit a batter with the bases loaded. He was pulled after the hit batsman for Jose Mujica, who gave up a grand slam to the first Padre he faced to put four earned runs on Gonzalez’s line despite not allowing any hits. In his other three outings, Gonzales has thrown a combined nine innings and allowed 10 hits and five earned runs. Gonzales’s season-high for pitches in a game is 51, so the Rockies might need another long night from their bullpen.
For the Dodgers, Corey Seager gets the night off with Chris Taylor drawing the start at short. Austin Barnes catches Kershaw.
The Rockies made a roster move, calling up old friend AJ Ramos. They designated Wade Davis for assignment.
Please remember this next time you complain about the Dodgers not signing any big-name relievers.
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Justin Turner is in the lineup at DH and will DH again tomorrow.
Turner is expected to return to the field Tuesday when the Dodgers open up their final homestand of the regular season against Oakland.
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Speaking of returns against Oakland.
Walker Buehler is expected to start the series finale on Thursday. It’ll be Buehler’s only shot at getting a start in before the postseason, so that could be a pretty important outing for the Dodgers’ postseason run. Buehler threw 90 pitches in a simulated game today and seemingly survived.
First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 PM PDT and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.
