The Los Angeles Dodgers try to clinch a series win against the St. Louis Cardinals after taking the first two games of the four-game set by a combined score of 13-4.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto is back on the mound for his second start of the season and his first at Dodger Stadium. He’s looking for better results after pitching just one inning and giving up five earned runs in the Seoul Series.
Yamamoto allowed four hits and one walk as he struggled with his command, however, he did strike out two batters, which was the lone encouraging point from his outing. Despite the poor debut, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is confident Yamamoto will be a frontline starter.
The Dodgers face off against Lance Lynn, who is making his Cardinals debut. It marks a return to Dodger Stadium for Lynn, who was acquired by the Dodgers at the trade deadline last season when the club was in desperate need of starting pitching.
Lynn got off to a hot start with the Dodgers, but he ultimately regressed and started the final game of the season for L.A. when he gave up four home runs in their National League Division Series loss.
In 2023, the 36-year-old posted a 5.73 ERA in 183.2 innings with a 1.39 WHIP and 191 strikeouts while allowing an MLB-worst 44 home runs.
The Dodgers return to their primary lineup with James Outman, Jason Heyward and Gavin Lux back in the mix after all three were on the bench on Friday in favor of platoon matchups.
The Cardinals made some changes to their lineup after sticking with the same lineup for the first two games with Iván Herrera, Matt Carpenter and Brandon Crawford all drawing their first starts.
Rain could be in the forecast at Dodger Stadium with a 45% chance at 6 p.m. PST and a 35% chance at 7 p.m., but it’s expected to clear up for around two hours starting around 8 p.m.
Dodgers lineup
SS: Mookie Betts
DH: Shohei Ohtani
1B: Freddie Freeman
C: Will Smith
3B: Max Muncy
LF: Teoscar Hernández
CF: James Outman
RF: Jason Heyward
2B: Gavin Lux
Cardinals lineup
LF: Brendan Donovan
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
2B: Nolan Gorman
3B: Nolan Arenado
DH: Matt Carpenter
C: Iván Herrera
RF: Alec Burleson
SS: Brandon Crawford
CF: Victor Scott II
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