Cody Bellinger makes his fifth start in a Los Angeles Dodgers game against the San Francisco Giants, but on Tuesday he does so for the first time at first base. To this point, the 21-year-old has exclusively played left field.
Bellinger has eight hits in 25 at-bats over seven games, good for a .320/.393/.600 batting line. He has one double, two home runs, two RBI, three walks and five strikeouts. With Bellinger at first base, Franklin Gutierrez starts in left field.
He’s fresh off the 10-day disabled list, having missed the past 19 games while recovering from a hamstring strain. Gutierrez’s expected return was twice delayed.
First, when he was hit by a pitch at Camelback Ranch, and after Dodgers manager Dave Roberts determined the veteran outfielder wasn’t yet running at 100 percent.
Scott Van Slyke was demoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City in the corresponding roster move to activating Gutierrez. On the mound, Alex Wood makes a fourth start of the season and appears in his sixth game overall.
The southpaw enters 1-0 with a 2.29 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. Wood allowed just two baserunners (one walk, one hit) over six innings when he faced the Giants last week at AT&T Park.
Justin Turner had his career-high and MLB-best 16-game hitting streak snapped in the Dodgers’ loss Monday night. Overall this season he’s batting .387/.447/.538 with 11 doubles, one home run and 12 RBI. Turner leads the National League and ranks second in the Majors in doubles.
He and the Dodgers are facing Matt Moore a second time in the past five days. Moore held Los Angeles to one run on two hits, and had eight strikeouts in his home start. Though, he didn’t factor into the decision of a game the Dodgers won, 5-1, in 10 innings.
Moore 1-3 with a 4.80 ERA and 1.37 WHIP in five starts this season. None of the players in the Dodgers lineup have extensive experience or success against the left-hander. Turner is a career 2-for-12 with one double, four walks and three strikeouts.
Dodgers lineup:
CF: Kiké Hernandez
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
LF: Franklin Gutierrez
2B: Chris Taylor
RF: Yasiel Puig
C: Austin Barnes
1B: Cody Bellinger
P: Alex Wood
Giants lineup:
CF: Gorkys Hernandez
LF: Brandon Belt
RF: Hutner Pence
1B: Buster Posey
3B: Christian Arroyo
SS: Eduardo Nuñez
2B: Joe Panik
C: Nick Hundley
P: Matt Moore
