The Los Angeles Dodgers are off to a rough start in their 11-game road trip and need a victory Sunday to avoid losing their first series to the San Francisco Giants this season. Moreover, the Dodgers are winners in just one of their last five games.
They wrap up a four-game series at AT&T Park with Kenta Maeda on the mound. The start is his fifth and sixth overall game. Maeda enters 2-1 with a 3.10 ERA, 1.80 FIP, 1.48 WHIP and averaging a career-best 13.7 strikeouts per nine innings.
He recorded 10 strikeouts and threw five shutout innings against the Giants at Dodger Stadium in what was his first start this season. Maeda’s next time pitching also came against San Francisco, though in the form of a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
He’s opposed by Ty Blach, who is 1-3 with a 4.31 ERA, 4.32 FIP and 1.53 WHIP in six starts. He’s battled some command issues, issuing three walks in half his starts.
Blach last saw the Dodgers on April 8 when he held them to just one run on four hits over six innings. Prior to that, he threw five shutout innings to earn a win at Dodger Stadium on March 29.
The left-hander is a career 3-2 with a 1.90 ERA in nine games (six starts) against the Dodgers. He faces a lineup that sees the return of Kiké Hernandez, who missed the doubleheader because of flu-like symptoms.
Prior to the series finale, the Dodgers placed Yasiel Puig on the 10-day disabled list and recalled Brock Stewart from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Dodgers lineup:
CF: Chris Taylor
SS: Corey Seager
RF: Kiké Hernandez
LF: Matt Kemp
C: Yasmani Grandal
1B: Cody Bellinger
2B: Austin Barnes
3B: Kyle Farmer
P: Kenta Maeda
Giants lineup:
LF: Gregor Blanco
2B: Hanson
C: Buster Posey
1B: Brandon Belt
3B: Evan Longoria
SS: Brandon Crawford
RF: Austin Slater
CF: Gorkys Hernandez
P: Ty Blach
