On the heels of an impressive 7-4 comeback victory, the Los Angeles Dodgers are now in position to come away with a crucial series win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
With a magic number of five to clinch a sixth consecutive National League West title, the Dodgers hold a slim 1.5 game lead over the Colorado Rockies in the standings.
Both teams are currently in the midst of respective three and four-game win streaks, leaving no room for error with five games remaining in the regular season.
Walker Buehler gets the nod for his 22nd start of the season. He enters with a 7-5 record on the year, sporting a 2.74 ERA, 3.00 FIP and 0.98 WHIP over 124.2 innings pitched (23 games).
Buehler is coming off a dominant outing against the Rockies, in which he allowed only three hits and two unearned runs with a career-high 12 strikeouts over six innings pitched.
That performance proceeded an eight-inning shutout effort against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sept. 14. In the start, Buehler was tabbed for only two hits and two walks while accumulating nine strikeouts on 105 pitches (72 strikes).
Tuesday marks Buehler’s first career outing at Chase Field. In one previous start against the Diamondbacks this season, the right-hander allowed only two hits and one run with nine strikeouts across 6.1 innings pitched.
Arizona counters with fellow rookie Matt Koch, who has struggled in a swingman role this season. He’s 5-5 thus far, having posted a 4.26 ERA, 5.74 FIP and 1.24 WHIP in 82.1 innings pitched (18 games, 13 starts).
Koch makes only his second start since June 19. He’s coming off a solid performance against the Chicago Cubs last Tuesday, to which he logged four scoreless innings of relief with seven strikeouts.
The right-hander has yet to face the Dodgers in his young career. Despite the unfamiliarity, he has enjoyed pitching at Chase Field to the tune of a 3.17 ERA and 1.06 WHIP over 65.1 innings (14 games, nine starts).
Yasiel Puig has been on fire for the Dodgers as of late, hitting .438/.486/1.031 with six home runs and 13 RBI in his last 10 games. Joc Pederson has also swung it well as in his last 12 games, he is slashing .379/.395/.892 with five home runs.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Joc Pederson
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Max Muncy
SS: Manny Machado
CF: Cody Bellinger
RF: Yasiel Puig
C: Yasmani Grandal
2B: Kiké Hernandez
P: Walker Buehler
Diamondbacks lineup:
RF: Jon Jay
SS: Ketel Marte
LF: David Peralta
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
2B: Daniel Descalso
CF: A.J. Pollock
3B: Chris Owings
C: John Ryan Murphy
P: Matt Koch
