The Los Angeles Dodgers took the first two games against the red-hot Texas Rangers in dominant fashion by outscoring them 27-8, which now means a chance to pick up a sweep in the series finale and conclusion of a nine-game road trip.
Emmet Sheehan takes the ball for the Dodgers, looking to improve upon his 3-0 record. Although Sheehan has yet to lose a game, he has fallen into some trouble in July by giving up nine earned runs and a 1.85 WHIP in just 8.2 innings, which translates to a 9.35 ERA.
Sheehan’s recent struggles rocketed his ERA from 2.65 through his first three career starts in 17 innings to 4.91 on the season over 25.2 innings. The 23-year-old credited some of the poor results to his mechanics falling out of sync, so he will need to get them back on track as he faces his toughest opponent yet.
Although the Rangers didn’t show it through the first two games, their lineup has produced the best results in baseball this season, leading in both runs scored (569) and wRC+ (122).
As for Martin Pérez, who is starting the series finale for Texas, he’s found nearly the complete opposite results of his club’s offense this season. The 32-year-old left-hander has posted a 4.84 ERA and 1.50 WHIP across 96.2 innings while striking out just 62 hitters.
Over his last seven starts, Pérez has been even worse, pitching to a 5.55 ERA in 35.2 innings. However, a lot of that was fueled by a poor outing against the Houston Astros on July 3, when he gave up six runs in just 1.1 innings pitched. That has been a common trend for Pérez this season.
When he gets hit, he gets hit hard, otherwise, he tends to be fairly effective.
In his 18 starts, Pérez has allowed three runs or fewer in 13 of them, but in the other five, he’s given up a total of 30 runs, including four starts of six or more runs. Some of that comes with the territory of being a soft-tosser with poor strikeout stuff, but just last season he was an All-Star with a 2.89 ERA in 196.1 innings.
With a southpaw on the mound, the Dodgers are going with a right-handed heavy lineup, which includes Jonny DeLuca making his first start since impressing the baseball world by taking away extra-base hits on back-to-back plays in the series opener.
Austin Barnes is also in the lineup to give Will Smith a day off following the night game on Saturday.
J.D. Martinez was scratched from the Dodgers lineup minutes before first pitch due to left hamstring tightness. Will Smith replaced Martinez as the starting designated hitter.
Dodgers lineup
2B: Mookie Betts
1B: Freddie Freeman
DH: Will Smith
LF: Chris Taylor
3B: Max Muncy
CF: James Outman
SS: Miguel Rojas
RF: Jonny DeLuca
C: Austin Barnes
Rangers lineup
2B: Marcus Semien
RF: Travis Jankowski
1B: Nathaniel Lowe
3B: Josh Jung
C: Jonah Heim
SS: Ezequiel Duran
DH: Brad Miller
CF: Leody Taveras
LF: Josh H. Smith
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