The Los Angeles Dodgers broke through late to clinch another series win and now are in position to complete a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. The Dodgers are 18-0-3 in series since last losing one, and enter play with a 13-game winning streak in Interleague play and with 16 wins against the American League this year.
Sunday’s series finale has Justin Verlander starting against one of the multiple teams he was connected to prior to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. Speculation has carried into August, though the general perception is Verlander will finish out the season with the Tigers.
He takes the mound coming off a loss and a pedestrian 8-8 with a 4.11 ERA, 4.18 FIP and 1.36 WHIP. Verlander closed out the first half of the season on a positive note and has carried some of that momentum forward.
He’s 3-3 with a 2.55 ERA and 58 strikeouts over 53 innings pitched in his last eight starts. Verlander is 29-5 with a 2.94 ERA in 41 Interleague starts. He last faced the Dodgers in July 2014, allowing five runs in six innings but earning the win.
The Dodgers send Kenta Maeda to the mound as he looks for a sixth consecutive victory. The right-hander is 5-0 with a 1.95 ERA over his last six starts. Maeda has thrown 5.1 innings or fewer in five of those outings, however.
Adrian Gonzalez needs two hits to reach 2,000 for his career. He’ll become the first Dodgers player to reach the milestone since Jeff Kent in 2005, and the seventh player overall to do so while playing for the franchise.
Gonzalez is a lifetime 3-for-17 with a double and home run off Verlander, while Curtis Granderson is 5-for-28 with two doubles, one triple and a home run against his former teammate.
Cody Bellinger suffered a mild ankle sprain in Saturday’s win and is not in the lineup, though Dodgers manager Dave Roberts anticipates the rookie will be available “in some capacity.”
Playing in his second game with the Dodgers, Curtis Granderson bats leadoff. Chris Taylor, who was hit by a pitch in the ribs on Saturday, is not in the lineup.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Curtis Granderson
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
RF: Yasiel Puig
DH: Chase Utley
2B: Logan Forsythe
C: Austin Barnes
CF: Kiké Hernandez
Tigers lineup:
2B: Ian Kinsler
RF: Alex Presley
LF: Justin Upton
1B: Miguel Cabrera
CF: Mikie Mahtook
DH: Victor Martinez
C: John Hicks
3B: Andrew Romine
SS: Dixon Machado
