Jose De Leon becomes the fifth starting pitcher to make his Major League debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season. De Leon’s call up gives the Dodgers 31 players on their active roster.
De Leon went went 7-1 with a 2.61 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 111 strikeouts over 16 starts with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
He’s coming off a 13-strikeout performance, which was De Leon’s third straight start with at least 10 strikeouts.
The right-hander became the first Oklahoma City pitcher in the Pacific Coast League era to have five starts with double-digit strikeouts in a single season.
De Leon gets to throw to a familiar face as Austin Barnes is behind the plate. The start is Barnes’ sixth this season, and first since he was recalled on Friday.
Los Angeles faces a southpaw for the second time this series, with San Diego sending Christian Friedrich to the hill.
Friedrich enters 4-10 with a 4.84 ERA, 4.58 FIP and 1.49 WHIP over 19 games (18 starts). His lone relief appearance is also the last time Friedrich pitched.
He tossed a scoreless inning out of the bullpen against the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 30, walking one batter. Friedrich is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in two starts against the Dodgers this season.
Howie Kendrick, who starts in left field and bats leadoff, is a career 5-for-11 off Friedrich, with one double and two RBI. Like the Dodgers, the Padres also made a roster move Sunday.
Though, San Diego’s removed a player from the organization as Alexei Ramirez was released Alexei Ramirez. The 34-year-old started the first two games of the series in right field.
The Dodgers are 27-15 in the final game of a series this season. Los Angeles owns the second-best home record in the National League at 43-27.
Sunday’s rubber match is the final meeting this season at Dodger Stadium between the Dodgers and San Diego Padres. The clubs will meet for a three-game set at Petco Park from Sept. 27-29.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Howie Kendrick
CF: Kiké Hernandez
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
RF: Yasiel Puig
2B: Chase Utley
C: Austin Barnes
SS: Charlie Culberson
P: Jose De Leon
Padres lineup:
CF: Travis Jankowski
1B: Wil Myers
3B: Yangervis Solarte
LF: Alex Dickerson
2B: Ryan Schimpf
C: Hector Sanchez
RF: Oswaldo Arcia
SS: Alexi Amarista
P: Christian Friedrich
