After having their six-game winning streak snapped and being shut out for only the second time this season, the Los Angeles Dodgers enter play Sunday still in position to take the series from the Milwaukee Brewers.
Doing so could prove key come October and potential head-to-head tiebreaker scenarios if the clubs are to meet in the postseason. After the Brewers took two of three games last weekend at Dodger Stadium, the series finale at Miller Park is a swing game.
The Dodgers hand the ball to Clayton Kershaw in what’s only his second start of the season. Kershaw put together a strong performance in his 2019 debut, allowing two runs and recording six strikeouts over seven innings against the Cincinnati Reds.
Kershaw is a lifetime 6-5 with a 2.86 ERA in 14 starts against the Brewers. He’s fared well at Miller Park, going 4-1 with a 1.40 ERA across seven starts.
Kershaw is tasked with attempting to slow Christian Yelich, who has hit four home runs through the first three games of the series. Yelich is a career 9-for-17 off Kershaw, with one double, two home runs and three RBI. Though, he’s also struck out five times.
Having successfully gotten through a bullpen game, the Brewers start Brandon Woodruff. He’s completed at least five innings in three of four starts this season but also allowed four earned runs in two of those outings.
Kiké Hernandez is back in the Dodgers lineup after not starting the past two games. Hernandez entered off the bench Friday night and delivered a game-winning home run off Josh Hader, but he’s otherwise mired in a 5-for-28 slump.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Joc Pederson
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
RF: Cody Bellinger
1B: Max Muncy
2B: Kiké Hernandez
CF: Alex Verdugo
C: Austin Barnes
P: Clayton Kershaw
Brewers lineup:
CF: Lorenzo Cain
RF: Christian Yelich
LF: Ryan Braun
C: Yasmani Grandal
1B: Jesús Aguilar
2B: Hernan Perez
3B: Travis Shaw
SS: Orlando Arcia
P: Brandon Woodruff
