After coming from behind on Friday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers have a chance to secure a series victory against the Kansas City Royals.
All likelihood suggests they’ll have to do it with a pitchers’ duel, as with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Seth Lugo on the mound at Dodger Stadium, runs figure to be at a premium.
Yamamoto has been absolutely stellar since his MLB debut in Seoul. After the Dodgers returned to the United States, Yamamoto found his stride, and has a 2.41 ERA and 1.014 WHIP while posting a 6-1 record over 12 starts. He has given up more than three earned runs just twice in that span and has five scoreless starts.
Yamamoto’s most recent start was perhaps the best of his career up to this point. Facing the New York Yankees in the Bronx, Yamamoto posted seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts and only four baserunners on two hits and two walks. It dropped Yamamoto’s season ERA to 3.00 after allowing five earned runs in one inning in his first start.
In some part due to throwing a season-high 106 pitches, the Dodgers pushed Yamamoto back from his originally scheduled turn in the rotation on Thursday.
The Royals have had a top-10 offense this season — seventh in batting average, 10th in on-base plus slugging percentage and sixth in total hits — behind budding superstar Bobby Witt Jr. and veteran Salvador Perez, but face a unique challenge in the Dodgers rookie.
Meanwhile, L.A.’s elite offense — third in batting average, first in OPS and third in home runs — runs into a similar challenge with Lugo on the mound for the Royals.
Lugo, in his age-34 campaign, has vaulted himself into Cy Young contention with his 2024 numbers. He leads the American League in innings pitched (91.1) and wins (nine) and has done so with an incredible 2.36 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 174 ERA+.
The Dodgers, though, did well against the Royals other Cy Young contender — Cole Ragans — in the series opener. They overcame a deficit, courtesy of Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor home runs, to raise Ragans’ ERA above 3.00.
Dodgers lineup
SS: Mookie Betts
DH: Shohei Ohtani
1B: Freddie Freeman
LF: Teoscar Hernández
CF: Andy Pages
RF: Jason Heyward
3B: Cavan Biggio
2B: Gavin Lux
C: Austin Barnes
Royals lineup
3B: Maikel Garcia
SS: Bobby Witt Jr.
1B: Vinnie Pasquantino
DH: Nelson Velázquez
C: Freddy Fermin
2B: Nick Loftin
LF: MJ Melendez
RF: Dairon Blanco
CF: Garrett Hampson
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