The Los Angeles Dodgers continued their trend of dropping the second matchup of every three-game series they’ve played this season with a 5-1 loss on Saturday, which has set up a rubber match against the Detroit Tigers.
The Dodgers lineup has scored just 10 runs in their past four games, with five of them coming in the series opener against the Tigers, and three in a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Manager Dave Roberts said his club needs to improve, but isn’t sure why the offense has struggled to produce.
“[Saturday] I saw us missing the fastball,” Roberts said after Saturday’s loss. “I don’t have a direct answer why we’re having trouble putting innings together and finishing innings. I know the preparation is there, I understand it’s baseball, but we have to be better.
“Bottom line is every game matters and results matter. Our guys are continuing to work, but I don’t have an answer why we’ve sort of stalled the last four games offensively.”
Walker Buehler makes his fifth start of the season and is coming off a complete-game shutout against the Diamondbacks. The 27-year-old right-hander owns a strong 2.55 ERA and 3.25 FIP in 24.2 innings, but his 7.66 strikeouts per nine this season is more than two below his career average.
Buehler has never faced the Tigers previously. He’s pitched to a career 2.89 ERA and 3.20 FIP in 598 innings.
The Tigers counter with Eduardo Rodriguez, who they signed this past offseason from the Boston Red Sox to a five-year deal. However, he has yet to post the results Detroit was looking for when they gave him $77 million as his ERA currently sits at 5.03 through 19.2 innings in four starts, and his FIP isn’t much better at 4.42.
The 29-year-old southpaw has previously faced the Dodgers twice, going 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA in those starts. His last outing came in 2019 where he went seven innings and allowed just one run on five hits.
He owns a career 4.18 ERA and 3.84 FIP across 876.1 innings.
The Dodgers lineup is hitting .214/.293/.351 with a 93 wRC+ against left-handers this season with just 11 extra-base hits in 174 plate appearances. The Tigers are batting .216/.292/.307 with an 82 wRC+ in 512 plate appearances against right-handers.
Will Smith bats cleanup for the first time this season while Hanser Alberto gives Max Muncy a day off.
Prior to the game, the Dodgers activated relief pitcher Tommy Kahnle from the 10-day injured list and optioned Garrett Cleavinger to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Kahnle is on the active roster for the first time since signing a two-year contract with the Dodgers in December 2020. The right-hander was early into recovering from Tommy John surgery when he first signed.
He last appeared in a regular season game with the Yankees on July 26, 2020.
Dodgers lineup
RF: Mookie Betts
1B: Freddie Freeman
SS: Trea Turner
C: Will Smith
DH: Justin Turner
LF: Chris Taylor
CF: Cody Bellinger
3B: Hanser Alberto
2B: Gavin Lux
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