After a 4-3 road trip, the Los Angeles Dodgers return home to open up a three-game series with the Washington Nationals. It’s the first meeting between the two clubs since the 2016 National League Division Series.
Entering play on Monday, the Dodgers find themselves just a half-game out of first place in the NL West, while the Nationals own a commanding 7.5-game lead over the second-place Atlanta Braves in the NL East.
Making his ninth start of the season is Hyun-Jin Ryu, who enjoyed a solid outing against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday. In six innings pitched, he allowed just one run on three hits and struck out four batters in the process.
Ryu is making his first career start against the Nationals. For the season, the left-hander has pitched to a 3.91 ERA and 4.85 FIP in 46 innings, with 42 strikeouts to 17 walks.
On the mound for Washington is fellow southpaw Gio Gonzalez, who’s in the midst of his 10th big league campaign.
Through the first two months of 2017, Gonzalez has struggled with command, leading the league with 35 walks. He has excelled at limiting runs from crossing the plate as shown by his 3.03 ERA in 68.1 innings.
Gonzalez has been particularly tough against left-handed hitters this season, holding them to a .204/.295/.241 slash line thus far.
In his last start against the San Francisco Giants, Gonzalez allowed 11 baserunners and three earned runs in 6.1 innings, but still ultimately picked up his fourth win of the year.
The 31-year-old has dominated the Dodgers in five career starts, posting a 1.69 ERA and even 1.00 WHIP in 32 innings pitched. Gonzalez last faced Los Angeles in Game 3 of the 2016 NLDS, where he gave up three runs in just 4.1 innings.
Chris Taylor continues to tear the cover off the ball. Over the last 30 days, he’s hitting .299/.393/.515 with six doubles and five home runs in 112 plate appearances. Kiké Hernandez makes his first career start at first base.
The Nationals are lead by Ryan Zimmerman, who is batting .374/.421/.713 with 18 doubles, 16 home runs and 48 RBI. He enters play leading the Majors in batting average and RBI. Bryce Harper is playing in his second game since serving a three-game suspension.
Dodgers lineup:
3B: Logan Forsythe
SS: Corey Seager
2B: Chris Taylor
LF: Franklin Gutierrez
1B: Kiké Hernandez
C: Austin Barnes
RF: Yasiel Puig
CF: Brett Eibner
P: Hyun-Jin Ryu
Nationals lineup:
SS: Trea Turner
LF: Ryan Raburn
RF: Bryce Harper
1B: Ryan Zimmerman
2B: Daniel Murphy
3B: Anthony Rendon
C: Matt Wieters
CF: Michael Taylor
P: Gio Gonzalez
