The Los Angeles Dodgers have limped to the midway point of the season with a laundry list of injured players and a 43-37 record that has them six games back of the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League West.
Thursday’s afternoon matchup with the Milwaukee Brewers marks the end of a seven-game road trip on which the Dodgers are just 2-4. While a victory won’t give the Dodgers a winning record on the trip, it will mean a series win.
Kenta Maeda faces the Brewers a second time this season and looks to add to his road success. On the year, Maeda is 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA over eight road starts. He held Milwaukee to one run on six hits and had eight strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched on June 19.
Maeda didn’t earn a decision in the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory. Overall this season, the right-hander is 6-5 with a 2.91 ERA, 3.45 FIP and 1.11 WHIP. Maeda is coming off a loss, which can be tied to his trouble with getting through a lineup a third time through.
Milwaukee counters with Zach Davies, who held the Dodgers to one run on five hits and had six strikeouts in seven innings pitched at Dodger Stadium on June 17. He enters 5-3 with a 3.74 ERA, 3.99 FIP and 1.18 WHIP.
Davies has fared better at home than on the road this season, going 4-2 with a 3.11 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. However, he has allowed six home runs at Miller Park. A caveat to that is it’s come in more than double the amount of home starts — nine — compared to four road outings.
As Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said would be the case, Yasiel Puig is in the lineup for the series finale. Puig suffered a knee contusion in the seventh inning on Wednesday after crashing into the right field fence.
Meanwhile, Joc Pederson, who suffered a bruise in the AC joint of his right shoulder when he went running into the wall to make a catch, has not yet returned. That puts Trayce Thompson in center field for a second consecutive start.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
LF: Howie Kendrick
RF: Yasiel Puig
CF: Trayce Thompson
C: Yasmani Grandal
P: Kenta Maeda
Brewers lineup:
SS: Jonathan Villar
2B: Scooter Gennett
LF: Ryan Braun
1B: Chris Carter
3B: Aaron Hill
CF: Kirk Nieuwenhuis
C: Martin Maldonado
RF: Ramon Flores
P: Zach Davies
