The Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to four games on Tuesday night, defeating the Texas Rangers in the first of their two-game series at Globe Life Park in Arlington.
They now go for the sweep on Wednesday, with veteran left-handers Alex Wood and Mike Minor squaring off.
Wood has not pitched since Aug. 20 as the team decided to give him an extra few days of rest between starts after giving up seven hits and three runs in just four innings against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Overall in 24 starts this season, Wood is 7-6 with a 3.60 ERA, 3.55 FIP and 1.19 WHIP while striking out 117 and walking 33 in 132.1 innings.
This marks his second career start against the Rangers, with the first coming all the way back in 2014 when he tossed seven innings of one-run ball against them as a member of the Atlanta Braves.
Texas is a notoriously tough place to pitch, although Wood has fared just as well on the road as at home this season. He has a 3.60 ERA in 11 road starts compared to 3.61 in 13 starts at Dodger Stadium.
Minor, who was Wood’s former teammate in Atlanta, has gone through some ups and downs in his first season with the Rangers. He has made 23 starts, going 10-6 with a 4.40 ERA, 4.35 FIP and 1.12 WHIP. In 129 innings, Minor has 104 strikeouts against 28 walks.
He is coming off one of his best starts of the year, tossing six shutout innings while only giving up one hit to the Oakland Athletics on Aug. 22. He has also had success against Los Angeles in seven career appearances (six starts), yielding a 2.56 ERA and 1.14 WHIP.
The Dodgers come into the game swinging hot bats after scoring eight more runs on Tuesday. Manny Machado drove in four of those, giving him nine RBI in his last three games. He has also hit two home runs over that span.
Kiké Hernandez is back in the Dodgers lineup and looking to earn his third straight three-hit game. He is 6-for-7 with a walk and sacrifice fly over his last two.
Yasiel Puig is also in the lineup, so it appears there has been no decision in regards to his suspension appeal yet. He had his hearing with the league office on Tuesday.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Brian Dozier
DH: Justin Turner
3B: Manny Machado
LF: Matt Kemp
CF: Kiké Hernandez
SS: Chris Taylor
RF: Yasiel Puig
1B: Cody Bellinger
C: Yasmani Grandal
Rangers lineup:
LF: Shin-Soo Choo
2B: Rougned Odor
SS: Elvis Andrus
RF: Nomar Mazara
DH: Adrian Beltre
3B: Jurickson Profar
C: Isiah Kiner-Falefa
1B: Ronald Guzman
CF: Carlos Tocci
