The Los Angeles Dodgers look to clinch a series win against the New York Yankees after a thrilling opener that saw the two clubs play 11 innings before a run was scored.
Gavin Stone makes the start for the Dodgers, and it’s his first true test against one of the top lineups in baseball. Stone has impressed this season, but he has benefitted from facing lesser lineups, so he has questions to answer tonight.
But that’s not to take away anything from what he has done thus far. In 62 innings, Stone has posted a 2.90 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with 47 strikeouts over 11 starts. He has only allowed more than three runs in a game twice, and he has consecutive scoreless outings.
With each outing, Stone is gaining confidence, and the Dodgers believe he is pitching with maturity. Although there’s still a lot of season left, Stone is making a strong case to earn a spot in the Dodgers’ playoff rotation.
The Yankees counter with Nestor Cortes, who is also in the midst of a strong season. The left-hander has pitched to a 3.46 ERA and 1.09 WHIP across 75.1 innings, with 74 strikeouts in 13 starts.
Cortes only threw 4.1 innings in his previous start, allowing three earned runs on seven hits to the San Francisco Giants. Cortes has allowed three runs or more in seven of his starts, but has been able to prevent blowup outings, with a max of four runs allowed in a game this season.
With the left-hander on the mound, the Dodgers get a group of their backups into the lineup, including Miguel Rojas, Kiké Hernández and Chris Taylor. The rest of the order has the usual suspects in it, but Miguel Vargas remains on the bench despite his run of quality play.
Juan Soto remains out of the Yankees lineup as he deals with an arm injury.
Dodgers lineup
SS: Mookie Betts
DH: Shohei Ohtani
1B: Freddie Freeman
C: Will Smith
RF: Teoscar Hernández
CF: Andy Pages
2B: Miguel Rojas
3B: Kiké Hernández
LF: Chris Taylor
Yankees lineup
SS: Anthony Volpe
LF: Alex Verdugo
RF: Aaron Judge
DH: Giancarlo Stanton
1B: Anthony Rizzo
2B: Gleyber Torres
3B: DJ LeMahieu
C: Austin Wells
CF: Trent Grisham
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