After breaking out the bats in the form of 12 runs and three home runs on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers go for a sweep over the Texas Rangers in the finale of a brief two-game Interleague series.
Kenta Maeda returns from the disabled list and makes his first start in nearly two weeks after suffering a hip injury. He has since thrown a bullpen session to the liking of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, and now looks to strengthen a depleted starting rotation that recently lost the likes of Walker Buehler and Dennis Santana to injuries.
Maeda enters with a 4-4 record, having accumulated a 3.61 ERA, 2.83 FIP and 1.28 WHIP over 52.1 innings pitched (11 games) with 68 strikeouts to 18 walks.
He has been slightly better at the friendly confines of Dodger Stadium this season, posting 3.38 ERA in 26.2 innings at home compared to 3.86 in 25.2 innings on the road.
The Rangers send Cole Hamels to the mound for his 14th start of the season. The Southern California native has compiled a 3.86 ERA, 5.37 FIP and 1.24 WHIP across 79.1 innings with 79 strikeouts compared to 29 walks.
Hamels did not particularly fare well in his last outing against the Houston Astros on June 7, allowing five runs in 7.1 innings and ultimately being tabbed with his sixth loss of the year.
The 34-year-old last started at Dodger Stadium in 2014 as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, where he owns a minuscule 1.64 ERA and 0.86 WHIP in 22 innings.
Matt Kemp has had some success off Hamels in his career, going 8-for-23 (.348 batting average) against him. Justin Turner has also been able to get to him, sporting a .385 batting average with five hits in 13 at-bats.
Two of the hottest Dodgers hitters, Joc Pederson and Max Muncy, are out of the Dodgers lineup with the lefty Hamels on the mound. Pederson leads all of baseball with seven home runs in the month of June, while Muncy is right behind him with six. They are valuable bats off the bench for Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on Wednesday.
Dodgers lineup:
SS: Chris Taylor
3B: Justin Turner
LF: Matt Kemp
CF: Kiké Hernández
1B: Cody Bellinger
RF: Yasiel Puig
2B: Logan Forsythe
C: Austin Barnes
P: Kenta Maeda
Rangers lineup:
LF: Shin-Soo Choo
CF: Delino DeShields
RF: Nomar Mazara
3B: Adrian Beltre
SS: Jurickson Profar
1B: Joey Gallo
C: Robinson Chirinos
2B: Rougned Odor
P: Cole Hamels
