After a four-game sweep at the hands of the Cardinals in St. Louis, the Los Angeles Dodgers look to turn the page back home against the Milwaukee Brewers. Julio Urias starts in the first meeting between the teams since the thrilling 2018 National League Championship Series.
Friday marks what could be Urias’ last start before he moves to the bullpen as Clayton Kershaw will likely take his spot in the rotation. In two career regular-season starts against Milwaukee, Urias has given up just two runs on seven hits over 11 total innings.
The young left-hander has fond memories of the last time he faced the Brewers. In Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS, he entered in relief to face eventual NL MVP Christian Yelich with the Dodgers clinging to a one-run lead and the tying run on second base with two outs in the fifth inning.
Urias had struck out Yelich the night before, but after that game had learned his grandmother had passed away. He told none of his teammates about his personal tragedy, except for Kiké Hernandez.
Urias, pitching on back-to-back days for the first time in his career, retired Yelich thanks to an outstanding catch from Chris Taylor in left field and the Dodgers ended up winning the game and the series.
The Brewers figure to once again challenge the Dodgers for the NL Pennant in 2019. Yelich has picked up right where he left off, with five home runs and 15 RBI already this season.
He still trails defending NLCS MVP Cody Bellinger in both of those categories, though, as Bellinger leads all of Major League Baseball with seven home runs and 19 RBI.
Like the Dodgers, the Brewers are looking to rebound from a bit of a slump, having lost four of their last five. Most recently, they suffered a three-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and would no doubt like to end their Southern California trip on a better note.
Milwaukee send out Corbin Burnes in what’s just the third start of his career. Burnes spent his entire rookie season last year pitching out of the bullpen. He has allowed two runs over 2.1 career innings against the Dodgers.
Burnes faces a lineup that includes Corey Seager, who was removed early Thursday after being hit by a pitch. Seager was diagnosed with a hamstring contusion and said he needed to await flying back home before determining if he would possibly miss time.
Friday is Yasmani Grandal’s return to Dodger Stadium after he left the team during free agency this past offseason.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Joc Pederson
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Cody Bellinger
CF: A.J. Pollock
RF: Alex Verdugo
2B: Kiké Hernandez
C: Austin Barnes
P: Julio Urias
Brewers lineup:
CF: Lorenzo Cain
RF: Christian Yelich
LF: Ryan Braun
1B: Jesus Aguilar
C: Yasmani Grandal
3B: Mike Moustakas
2B: Hernan Perez
SS: Orlando Arcia
P: Corbin Burnes
