Much like the 2016 National League Championship Series, the first two matchups of a three-game series at Wrigley Field between the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers have been closely-contested. Now they meet in an afternoon affair, with left-handers Brett Anderson and Hyun-Jin Ryu dueling.
The Dodgers see the return of Justin Turner, who did not start in Wednesday’s 2-0 victory as he was still recovering from quadriceps tightness. Turner did pinch-hit in the eighth inning, grounding into a double play to leave the bases loaded.
He enters play Thursday batting .345/.387/.517 with five doubles and three RBI. Trayce Thompson, who was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday, receives the start in left field. Thompson struck out in a pinch-hit appearance last night.
The Dodgers look to provide run support that was nonexistent for Ryu at Coors Field in his first start of the season.
The 30-year-old allowed two runs on six hits, including one home run, and had five strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Ryu’s velocity held for much of the outing, though his command began to wane as fatigue seemingly set in.
Ryu is a career 1-0 with a 2.92 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in two starts. One of which came at Wrigley Field, where he allowed two runs on 11 hits in 5.1 innings and earned a win.
After a second season with the Dodgers, Anderson signed a one-year contract with the Cubs in January. His deal includes $500,000 for 11 starts made, $750,000 for 14 and 17 starts, $1 million for 20, 23 and 26 starts, and $1.5 million for 29 starts.
The southpaw made a career-high 31 starts for the Dodgers in 2015, but otherwise has only turned in 11 outings in four of eight Major League seasons. Anderson collected four strikeouts and held the Milwaukee Brewers to one run on five hits over 5.2 innings in his debut.
Anderson’s lone start at Wrigley Field — albeit as an opponent — came in 2014. Then with the Colorado Rockies, he allowed two runs on 11 hits and struck out nine in seven innings.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Logan Forsythe
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
RF: Yasiel Puig
1B: Scott Van Slyke
C: Yasmani Grandal
CF: Trayce Thompson
LF: Kiké Hernandez
P: Hyun-Jin Ryu
Cubs lineup:
LF: Kyle Schwarber
3B: Kris Bryant
1B: Anthony Rizzo
SS: Addison Russell
C: Willson Contreras
CF: Albert Almora Jr.
RF: Jason Heyward
2B: Javier Baez
P: Brett Anderson
