Coming off back-to-back series wins and having won five of their last six games, the Los Angeles Dodgers look to carry their momentum into a three-game clash with the Philadelphia Phillies. Monday’s series opener is the last game played with a limited-capacity attendance at Dodger Stadium.
The Phillies enter play with a 32-31 record, good enough to keep them in second place in the National League East standings. While they’ve hovered around the .500 mark for most of the season, Philadelphia went 7-3 over their last 10 and are on a four-game winning streak.
Moreover, the Phillies have won each of their last three series and are fresh off a two-game sweep of the New York Yankees.
Second baseman Jean Segura and catcher J.T. Realmuto have led the Phillies’ offensive efforts this season, posting respective team-leading batting averages of .329 and .290. Realmuto’s .403 on-base percentage leads the team, as does his .483 slugging.
Spencer Howard toes the rubber for Philadelphia in what will be his seventh start of the season. Through his body of work thus far, Howard has gone 0-1 with a 4.61 ERA and 1.54 WHIP. In his most recent outing against the Washington Nationals, Howard allowed just one unearned run through 2.1 innings.
Tony Gonsolin makes his second start of the season for the Dodgers, hoping to improve upon his last performance. In his season debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Gonsolin allowed an earned run and threw a whopping 66 pitches through just 1.2 innings.
The Dodgers again are without Cody Bellinger as he continues to be saddled by left hamstring tightness. Bellinger was thought to be progressing but a running drill to test the hamstring before Sunday’s game did not go particularly well.
Dodgers lineup
CF: Mookie Betts
SS: Gavin Lux
3B: Justin Turner
C: Will Smith
1B: Matt Beaty
2B: Chris Taylor
LF: AJ Pollock
RF: Zach McKinstry
P: Tony Gonsolin
Phillies lineup
CF: Odubel Herrera
2B: Jean Segura
C: J.T. Realmuto
RF: Bryce Harper
1B: Rhys Hoskins
LF: Andrew McCutchen
3B: Alex Bohm
SS: Ronald Torreyes
P: Spencer Howard
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