The Los Angeles Dodgers have built on momentum from salvaging their series against the San Diego Padres with consecutive victories to put them on a three-game winning streak entering play Wednesday night.

However, as the Dodgers look to be the first team to sweep the Cincinnati Reds this season, they do so without Alex Call or Freddie Freeman in their lineup. Call was expected to start in left field with southpaw Nick Lodolo on the mound for the Reds.

Call’s and Freeman’s injuries are a reversal from recent trends for the Dodgers, as they just activated Kiké Hernández, and Hyeseong Kim and Max Muncy are both making progress toward respective returns.

Michael Conforto is starting in left field and Hernández is at first base.

Dodgers updates

Alex Call

Call entered as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning on Tuesday night but was then replaced by Justin Dean to begin the seventh. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the game it was due to Call experiencing some lower back trouble.

“He’s got an SI (Sacroiliac) situation that when he was going from second to third yesterday, it flared up,” Roberts said before the series finale against the Reds.

“So he’s down today. Not sure about his availability.”

Roberts added he’s hopeful Call’s back injury will not be a long-term issue but that the team may not have more clarity until Friday. Call has yet to undergo an X-ray or MRI.

“It’s something he’s dealt with before and played through worse, he said. But we felt to be kind of safe, to not play him tonight. But no imaging yet,” Roberts said.

Freddie Freeman

Freeman has been a stalwart throughout his career and that’s held true over recent days despite dealing with neck discomfort that annually bothers him at some point.

“He’s got a little kind of neck stinger that went from his neck to his shoulder on the right side. So I think just getting him a couple days, with the off day tomorrow, he’ll be back in there on Friday,” Roberts said.

Freeman is on a three-game hitting streak as part of a stretch that began with slugging two home runs against the San Diego Padres on Sunday.

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