After having their six-game winning streak snapped, the Los Angeles Dodgers look to even the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Mookie Betts extended his hitting streak to 10 games in the loss and has said the current stretch is the best he’s felt at the plate this season. In that span, Betts has a .375 batting average and a 1.034 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Betts remains in his familiar leadoff spot Tuesday night, but the Dodgers lineup also includes Edwin Ríos for his first start since April 27. Ríos appeared as pinch-hitter in the series opener and led off the ninth inning with a home run that prevented the Dodgers from being shut out.
Even with scoring just one run in the loss, the Dodgers rank No. 10 with a .705 OPS and are sixth overall in runs.
As for their pitching, Tony Gonsolin takes the mound in what’s his sixth start of the season. Gonsolin is coming off five strong innings against San Francisco Giants in which he allowed just one run and earned the win.
The Dodgers mulled different options before giving Gonsolin the nod in his last start, and he rewarded the team’s trust. Gonsolin is encouraged by his results so far this year and remains focused on not falling behind in counts.
On the season he’s 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA, 3.39 FIP, 1.09 WHIP and .188 opponents’ batting average.
The Pirates counter with Bryse Wilson, who is also be making his sixth start of the season. He also ends a string of the Dodgers facing a left-handed starter at seven consecutive games.
Wilson is coming off of an outing in which he only lasted 3.2 innings against the Detroit Tigers but managed to strike out six. Wilson is 0-1 with a 3.79 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP in 19 innings, and struggled with walks early in the season.
He faces a Dodgers lineup that is tied for the lowest chase rate in MLB and has made the least weak contact of any team in the league.
While Ríos gets an opportunity to start, Will Smith is out of the lineup for a second consecutive game because of a minor right pectoral injury. As expected, Chris Taylor isn’t starting as he was due to receive a night off even before sustaining a left knee bruise as a result of a foul ball.
Dodgers lineup
RF: Mookie Betts
1B: Freddie Freeman
SS: Trea Turner
2B: Max Muncy
3B: Justin Turner
CF: Cody Bellinger
DH: Edwin Ríos
LF: Gavin Lux
C: Austin Barnes
Pirates lineup
LF: Ben Gamel
CF: Bryan Reynolds
3B: Ke’Bryan Hayes
DH: Daniel Vogelbach
1B: Yoshi Tsutsugo
SS: Diego Castillo
RF: Jack Suwinski
C: Michael Perez
2B: Cole Tucker
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