Monday night’s loss to the St. Louis Cardinals was a tough one for the Los Angeles Dodgers as closer Kenley Jansen gave up two home runs in the ninth inning in his first game off the disabled list, resulting in a 5-3 victory that improved the Cardinals to 15-4 this month.
The Dodgers look to get back in the win column on Tuesday though when they send left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu to the mound. This marks Ryu’s send start since coming off the disabled list, and he was outstanding in his first one.
He allowed just three hits while striking out six in six shutout innings against the San Francisco Giants. Due to the groin injury, Ryu has only made seven starts this season.
He has been as good as ever in that time though, going 3-0 with a 1.77 ERA, 2.82 FIP and 0.81 WHIP while striking out 42 and walking 10 in 35.2 innings.
Ryu has faced the Cardinals four times in his career (three starts) and went 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in those games. He also started against them twice in the postseason — once each in 2013 and 2014 — allowing just one run in a combined 13 innings.
The Cardinals counter with a rookie for the second straight game in right-hander Daniel Poncedeleon. The 26-year-old has appeared in six Major League games (one start), yielding a 2.04 ERA, 5.03 FIP and 0.96 WHIP. He has 10 strikeouts and nine walks in 17.2 innings.
Poncedeleon had a memorable MLB debut on July 23, when he tossed seven hitless innings against the Cincinnati Reds. Poncedeleon has spent a majority of the season with Triple-A Memphis, where he holds an impressive 9-3 record to go along with a 2.15 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in 18 games (17 starts).
The challenge of facing the Dodgers offense will be a difficult one for the rookie as they boast one of the hottest hitters in the league in Justin Turner. He comes into play with a 14-game hitting streak, slashing .464/.531/.786 with seven doubles, three home runs and eight RBI over that span.
Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is back in the lineup after a rare day off on Monday. He had started 27 consecutive games before that and in that span, he hit .265/.306/.393 with two home runs and 12 RBI.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Joc Pederson
3B: Justin Turner
SS: Manny Machado
CF: Cody Bellinger
1B: Max Muncy
C: Yasmani Grandal
2B: Chris Taylor
RF: Yasiel Puig
P: Hyun-Jin Ryu
Cardinals lineup:
1B: Jose Martinez
C: Yadier Molina
RF: Tyler O’Neill
LF: Marcell Ozuna
SS: Paul DeJong
3B: Jedd Gyorko
CF: Harrison Bader
2B: Kolton Wong
P: Daniel Poncedeleon
