The Los Angeles Dodgers can clinch a series victory against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday and by doing so extend their modest winning streak to three games while also keeping pressure on the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies to maintain their respective leads in the National League West.
Los Angeles begins the day two games back of the first-place Diamondbacks and trailing the Rockies by 1.5 games. In terms of Interleague play, the Dodgers are 9-7 this season, and have four games against the American League remaining on their schedule.
Rich Hill looks to help the club keep their momentum as he’s in the midst of an impressive stretch. The veteran left-hander has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his past five starts.
Expanding even further, Hill has pitched to a 2.51 ERA in his last 11 games (10 starts). Overall this season, he’s 5-4 with a 3.57 ERA.
He’s opposed by Erasmo Ramirez, who makes his first career start against the Dodgers. Ramirez allowed one hit and issued a walk over two scoreless innings out of the bullpen in 2016, earning a win against Los Angeles.
The right-hander has been limited to just three starts this season because of a Teres Major strain that sidelined him for three months. Ramirez tossed five shutout innings against the Houston Astros in his return last week.
Yasiel Puig is back in the lineup after a night off. There was an initial belief that his absence meant Puig was not appealing a two-game suspension, but he is carrying forward with that and remains eligible to play.
With what’s expected to hold true for the foreseeable future, Justin Turner is batting second and is followed by Manny Machado. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spoke with both players before settling on that order.
Machado slugged two home runs in Friday’s series opener, while Turner extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Joc Pederson
3B: Justin Turner
SS: Manny Machado
CF: Cody Bellinger
2B: Brian Dozier
C: Yasmani Grandal
DH: Matt Kemp
1B: Max Muncy
RF: Yasiel Puig
