Although the Los Angeles Dodgers have the National League West wrapped up, there is still home-field advantage in the NL Division Series to play for. The Dodgers find themselves two games behind the Washington Nationals entering Tuesday.
Los Angeles hands the ball to Jose De Leon in what may be an audition of sorts as the club has yet to name a fourth starter in their NLDS rotation. De Leon last pitched against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Sept. 18.
He allowed six runs (four earned) on seven hits in just 3.2 innings of what was the worst of his three outings in the Majors thus far. De Leon was initially scheduled to start Tuesday, but was swapped with Kenta Maeda due to Maeda’s preference to make two starts this final week.
De Leon faced the Padres in his MLB debut and earned the win. He allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits, including one home run, but also collected nine strikeouts in six innings of work.
The homer was hit by Yangervis Solarte, who has played under tough circumstances this season as his wife was battling cancer. She recently passed away, which has led to an emotional past two weeks for Solarte.
Overall this season, De Leon is 2-0 with a 5.52 ERA and 1.30 WHIP. He’s opposed by Luis Perdomo, who is coming off a tough-luck loss at the hands of the Diamondbacks. Perdomo has dropped six of his last nine starts, with three of those losses coming at home.
His troubles stem from the home-run ball, with the right-hander allowing two homers in two of his last four starts. Perdomo has faced the Dodgers five times (three starts) this season. In those games he’s 0-3 with an 8.53 ERA and 2.26 WHIP.
Perdomo last saw Los Angeles on Sept. 3, and allowed five runs on nine hits in six innings. He enters 8-10 with a 5.59 ERA, 4.62 FIP and 1.59 WHIP. Adrian Gonzalez, who was removed early Tuesday night due to a sinus infection, is a career 4-for-9 with one double, three RBIs and three walks against Perdomo.
Corey Seager is 5-for-12, while Howie Kendrick is 4-for-9 with three doubles and two RBIs. Although he isn’t in the lineup, Yasiel Puig is 5-for-7 with a triple, four runs scored and three RBIs off the Padres’ starter.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Chase Utley
3B: Howie Kendrick
SS: Corey Seager
1B: Justin Gonzalez
C: Yasmani Grandal
RF: Josh Reddick
LF: Andrew Toles
CF: Joc Pederson
P: Jose De Leon
Padres lineup:
CF: Manuel Margot
1B: Wil Myers
3B: Yangervis Solarte
LF: Alex Dickerson
RF: Hunter Renfroe
2B: Ryan Schimpf
C: Austin Hedges
SS: Alexi Amarista
P: Luis Perdomo
