Losers of two straight to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Los Angeles Dodgers look to get back in the win column and avoid dropping their first series this season. As it stands, the best the Dodgers can hope for is a split at Busch Stadium.
Their potent offense has cooled in St. Louis, though manager Dave Roberts remains content with the quality of at-bats he’s seen from his lineup. His group on Wednesday does not include A.J. Pollock, as Chris Taylor is slotted in center field.
Taylor is off to a slow start this season and is without a hit since an RBI double against the San Francisco Giants on April 3.
Elsewhere on the position-player front, the Dodgers placed Russell Martin on the 10-day injured list due to low back inflammation and recalled Rocky Gale from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Kenta Maeda takes the mound for a seventh career game (fourth start) against the Cardinals. He’s 2-0 with a 4.19 ERA in the previous six contests, and earned a win in his first time facing them at Busch Stadium in July 2016.
St. Louis counters with Jack Flaherty, who was dominant at Dodger Stadium last season. However, the Southern California native has failed to go past five innings in either of his two previous starts this year because of a high pitch count.
Matt Carpenter remains in the leadoff spot, fresh off agreeing to a two-year contract extension with a vesting option for 2022.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Joc Pederson
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Cody Bellinger
2B: Max Muncy
RF: Alex Verdugo
CF: Chris Taylor
C: Austin Barnes
P: Kenta Maeda
Cardinals lineup:
3B: Matt Carpenter
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
SS: Paul DeJong
LF: Marcell Ozuna
C: Yadier Molina
RF: Dexter Fowler
2B: Kolten Wong
CF: Harrison Bader
P: Jack Flaherty
