The Los Angeles Dodgers, with their 90-36 record, became the third team in Major League Baseball history to reach 90 wins by Aug. 25, joining the 2001 Seattle Mariners and 1998 New York Yankees. The Dodgers are coming off a seven-game road trip but are home for only three games against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The series coincides with Players Weekend across MLB, during which time players are permitted to wear special jerseys with nicknames on the back, patches on sleeves to honor key figures or charities in their lives, and customized batting gloves, cleats and other equipment.
Kenta Maeda gets another crack at the Brewers after suffering a loss on the road June 4. He allowed two runs on two hits and issued three walks in just four innings. The subpar performance led to Maeda making his next appearance out of the bullpen.
Maeda is coming off what was one of the best starts of his career, before an implosion in the sixth inning. He went back and forth with Justin Verlander, as both pitchers delivered five perfect innings.
Verlander and Maeda each lost their bid for history in the sixth, with the latter surrendering four runs on five hits in the inning. Verlander went eight strong innings to hand the Dodgers and Maeda a loss.
The 29-year-old returns to the confines of Dodger Stadium, where he has dominated throughout his career. This season, Maeda is 7-1 at home, with a 3.18 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. Overall, he’s 11-5 with a 3.88 ERA, 109 ERA+ and 1.11 WHIP.
The Brewers, who at 66-62 enter play only three games behind the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central and 3.5 games out of the second Wild Card spot, counter with Chase Anderson.
Anderson’s previous start, an Aug. 20 start at Coors Field, was his first off the disabled list, after suffering a strained oblique. In five innings pitched, he gave up just one run on two hits and three walks, earning his first victory since June 22.
Anderson made two dismal starts against the Dodgers during the 2016 season, giving up a combined 13 runs (12 earned), 14 hits and five walks on path to two losses. He did not face the Dodgers during the early June series.
The 29-year-old is 7-2 this season in 17 starts, with a 2.83 ERA, 156 ERA+, and 1.10 WHIP. Adrian Gonzalez, who hit his first homer since his return from the 60-day DL, enters 8-for-15 against the righty, with two doubles, a home run, and three RBIs.
Corey Seager returns to the lineup after a day off and in the midst of a 12-game hitting streak. He’s 1-for-6 with a triple, two walks and two strikeouts in his career against Anderson.
The Dodgers have won 30 of their last 34 games at Dodger Stadium in a stretch that dates back to June 7. It includes winning 12 of their last 13 home games. Los Angeles took two of three games at Miller Park earlier this season.
Dodgers lineup:
CF: Chris Taylor (“CT3”)
SS: Corey Seager (“Seager”)
3B: Justin Turner (“RedTurn2”)
C: Yasmani Grandal (“YRG Jr.”)
1B: Adrian Gonzalez (“El Titan”)
RF: Yasiel Puig (“Wild Horse”)
2B: Logan Forsythe (“Logie Bear”)
LF: Enrique Hernandez (“Kiké”)
P: Kenta Maeda (“Maeken”)
Brewers lineup:
1B: Eric Thames (“Sang Namja”)
2B: Neil Walker (“Walkie”)
LF: Ryan Braun (“Ocho”)
3B: Travis Shaw (“Mayor-DDC”)
RF: Domingo Santana (“Showmingo”)
C: Stephen Vogt (“I Believe”)
CF: Keon Broxton (“Fla Boy”)
SS: Orlando Arcia (“El Niño”)
P: Chase Anderson (“Texas”)
