The Los Angeles Dodgers have defeated the Colorado Rockies in two straight games to take a 1.5 game lead in the National League West standings, with their latest win coming on a walk-off home run by Chris Taylor.
They take the field on Wednesday night looking to earn the three-game sweep, and they are in good hands with rookie right-hander Walker Buehler taking the mound.
Overall in 21 games (20 starts) this season, Buehler is 7-5 with a 2.88 ERA, 3.14 FIP and 0.99 WHIP. He has 131 strikeouts compared to 31 walks in 118.2 innings.
Buehler is coming off perhaps his best start as a big leaguer, throwing eight shutout innings while allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out nine against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Buehler has started against the Rockies four times this season, going 0-1 with a 3.24 ERA and 1.04 WHIP.
Three of those outings were at Coors Field though, and Buehler has been much better at home in 2018. He has a 2.32 ERA in 11 appearances at Dodger Stadium compared to 3.49 in 10 starts on the road.
Opposing Buehler is left-hander Tyler Anderson, who has struggled a bit against the Dodgers in his career, going 3-4 with a 4.10 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in 11 starts. He faced them a couple weeks ago in Colorado and lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing five hits and four runs (three earned).
In 30 total starts this season, Anderson is 6-9 to go along with a 4.82 ERA, 4.60 FIP and 1.31 WHIP with 155 strikeouts and 54 walks in 162.1 innings.
Justin Turner has worn out Anderson in his career, going 13-for-26 (.500 batting average) with a home run. Kiké Hernandez has also found some success against him, slashing .250/.379/.708 with two home runs in 24 at-bats.
Tuesday night’s hero, Taylor, has really found his way at the plate in recent weeks after struggling for most of the year. After going 2-for-4 with the walk-off homer, he is hitting .379 with three home runs in his last 12 games.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Chris Taylor
3B: Justin Turner
SS: Manny Machado
1B: Cody Bellinger
RF: Matt Kemp
CF: Kiké Hernandez
C: Yasmani Grandal
2B: Brian Dozier
P; Walker Buehler
Rockies lineup:
CF: Charlie Blackmon
2B: DJ LeMahieu
RF: David Dahl
3B: Nolan Arenado
LF: Gerardo Parra
SS: Ian Desmond
1B: Ryan McMahon
C: Chris Iannetta
P: Tyler Anderson
