After finishing 4-2 on their latest homestand, the Los Angeles Dodgers now being a six-game road trip that opens with a matchup against the Baltimore Orioles. The visit to Oriole Park at Camden Yards is the Dodgers’ first since April 2013, when they dropped two of three.
The Dodgers are just 3-3 in Baltimore but 7-5 overall against the Orioles. The teams last met in July 2016 in a series that saw the Orioles win two of three games at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers are 7-8 in Interleague play this season.
They enter Tuesday’s series opener in position to clinch a seventh consecutive National League West. The easiest way to do so is with a victory, though the Dodgers can also wrap up the division if the Arizona Diamondbacks suffer a second consecutive loss to the New York Mets.
Play at Citi Field begins five minutes after first pitch between the Dodgers and Orioles.
L.A. hands the ball to Walker Buehler, who was pushed back to start on seven days’ rest. The Dodgers hope Buehler will benefit from the additional time between outings, as he, Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu have each hit a rough patch of late.
Buehler allowed six runs on eight hits and labored to get through five innings his last time out. That was after throwing a combined 13 scoreless innings in back-to-back starts.
The Orioles counter with Ty Blach, who has seen plenty of the Dodgers in his career while a member of the San Francisco Giants. Blach is a lifetime 4-2 with a 2.82 ERA in 13 games (seven starts) against L.A.
The southpaw faces a lineup that does not include Justin Turner, who was scratched. Turner additionally did not start Sunday due to a sore ankle, but was available off the bench. The domino effect includes Gavin Lux starting against a left-hander for the first time in his career.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts initially planed to have Lux as an option off the bench for the first two games of the series with the Orioles.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: A.J. Pollock
1B: David Freese
3B: Chris Taylor
CF: Cody Bellinger
RF: Kiké Hernandez
SS: Corey Seager
C: Will Smith
DH: Joc Pederson
2B: Gavin Lux
Orioles lineup:
SS: Jonathan Villar
1B: Trey Mancini
LF: Anthony Santander
DH: Renato Núñez
3B: Rio Ruiz
2B: Hanser Alberto
CF: Mason Williams
RF: DJ Stewart
C: Chance Sisco
