The Los Angeles Dodgers rather effectively navigated a month’s worth of bullpen games after losing Dustin May to Tommy John surgery, and now need to do so twice more before the All-Star break.
L.A. added a fresh arm to their bullpen in the form Edwin Uceta, whom manager Dave Roberts said could throw upwards of 80 pitches if necessary. And despite only getting four innings out of Clayton Kershaw on Saturday because of the rain delay cutting his start short, Roberts was confident in the state of the Dodgers’ bullpen.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” he said. “Some guys it will be two out of three, three out of four, or something like that. We have enough pitching.”
The Dodgers carry with them an eight-game winning streak that is tied for their season-long and have an opportunity to complete a season sweep of the Nationals. The Dodgers previously won three head-to-head meetings at Dodger Stadium from April 9-11 to start their first homestand.
The series opener of that weekend set was started by Joe Ross, who now gets a second look at the Dodgers this year. Ross held them scoreless and allowed just two hits to go along with two walks over five innings.
On the season the right-hander is 5-7 with a 4.02 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 15 starts. Ross pitched well in the month of June, allowing two earned runs or fewer in four of five outings; three of those were shutout efforts.
Garrett Cleavinger serves as the opener in what’s his first career start. The southpaw is
2-3 with a 2.19 ERA and 1.70 WHIP in 14 games this season.
Dodgers lineup
RF: Mookie Betts
1B: Max Muncy
LF: Matt Beaty
CF: Cody Bellinger
2B: Chris Taylor
3B: Zach McKinstry
SS: Gavin Lux
C: Austin Barnes
P: Garrett Cleavinger
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