The Los Angeles Dodgers are on the road after winning the rubber match and taking the three-game series against the rival San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers open their six-game road trip with three games against the Atlanta Braves before heading to Coors Field to face the Colorado Rockies over the weekend.
Los Angeles enters play on Tuesday tied with the Rockies for first place in the National League West with an 8-5 record. Atlanta opened the season 0-9, but have won their last three games. Alex Wood takes the mound at Turner Field for the first time since being traded to the Dodgers last season.
For his career, the southpaw is 12-11 with a 3.23 ERA and 1.29 WHIP in 40 games (25 starts) at Turner Field. Wood, who is 1-1 through two starts this season, is coming off a strong outing in which he held the Arizona Diamondbacks to one run over seven innings.
He’s sporting a 4.50 ERA, 4.46 FIP and 1.50 WHIP. Wood has issued at least two walks in each of his outings, and recorded three strikeouts in both games. Dodger starters have combined to go 6-2 with a 2.69 ERA, which ranks third in the Majors. In addition, Dodgers starting pitchers have held opponents to a .196 batting average, good for first, and their 0.97 WHIP ranks second.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers bullpen has thrown 14 consecutive innings over five games, holing batters to just three hits in 43 at-bats during that stretch. The bullpen’s .217 batting average against is third-best in the NL.
The Braves did some shuffling with their starting rotation due to Matt Wisler pitching in relief on Monday night. As a result, Williams Perez takes the ball in the series opener against the Dodgers, and Wisler is pushed back to the three-game finale.
Perez doesn’t have a decision in his two starts this season, and enters with a 7.00 ERA, 5.46 FIP and 1.78 WHIP. The young right-hander has yet to make it out of the fifth inning through his first two games. Perez threw six innings of one-run ball and had seven strikeouts in a start against the Dodgers last season.
He faces a hot bat in Yasiel Puig, whose .356 batting average and .442 on-base percentage are both in the top-10 amongst NL players. What’s more, Puig’s lifetime .389 batting average and .704 slugging percentage against the Braves are his second-best marks against any NL opponent.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
RF: Yasiel Puig
C: Yasmani Grandal
LF: Howie Kendrick
CF: Joc Pederson
P: Alex Wood
Braves lineup:
RF: Nick Markakis
2B: Daniel Castro
1B: Freddie Freeman
3B: Adonis Garcia
LF: Jeff Francoeur
C: Tyler Flowers
SS: Erick Aybar
CF: Mallex Smith
P: Williams Perez
