Behind the heroics of Cody Bellinger, the Los Angeles Dodgers avoided a third loss in their last five games, and now enter play Tuesday night in position to extend a modest winning streak to four gams.
A blister that forced Brandon McCarthy to the 10-day disabled list opened the door for Kenta Maeda to make the start in the middle game of the series with the Minnesota Twins. In 17 games (15 starts) this season, Maeda is 8-4 with a 4.23 ERA, 4.04 FIP and 1.19 WHIP.
The 29-year-old has fared well at Dodger Stadium this year, going 5-1 with a 3.11 ERA in nine games, compared to a 5.65 ERA in eight road starts.
The Dodgers face Jose Berrios, who had a rough rookie season with the Twins last season as he yielded an 8.02 ERA in 14 starts.
Berrios has been much better this season, however, as he’s 9-3 with a 3.50 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 75 strikeouts against 24 walks in 79.2 innings over 13 starts.
Like Maeda, Berrios has also struggled a bit on the road, evident by a 4.46 ERA that’s compared to 2.61 at Target Field ERA.
Bellinger’s home run Monday night was his 28th of the season, which is the most ever by a National League player in their first 80 career games. Of his 28 home runs, 15 of have come in the seventh inning or later, and three have been go-ahead homers in the eighth inning or later.
Chris Taylor went 3-for-4 in the series opener, marking the sixth time in his last seven games that he’s logged a multi-hit game. In that span Taylor is 16-for-28 (.571 batting average) with two home runs and six RBIs.
Twins left fielder Eddie Rosario had a monster game in the series opener, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and home run, while driving in three of his team’s four runs. Rosario is 7-for-11 with four doubles in his last three games.
The Dodgers have won 21 of their last 24 games at Dodger Stadium and are an MLB-best 42-13 at home this season.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Chris Taylor
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Cody Bellinger
C: Yasmani Grandal
CF: Joc Pederson
2B: Chase Utley
RF: Yasiel Puig
P: Kenta Maeda
Twins lineup:
2B: Brian Dozier
CF: Zack Granite
1B: Joe Mauer
3B: Eduardo Escobar
LF: Eddie Rosario
RF: Max Kepler
SS: Jorge Polanco
C: Jason Castro
P: Jose Berrios
