The Los Angeles Dodgers continue their home stretch with the start of a three-game series against one of the best teams in Major League Baseball, the Baltimore Orioles.
The Dodgers enter the game with a record of 78-53 and currently lead the National League West by three games over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Los Angeles is 7-3 in its last 10 games and has the best record in baseball.
The Orioles enter this series in the midst of a difficult stretch, sitting at 11-12 so far in August and two games behind in the American League East.
Jack Flaherty gets the ball for his 23rd regular season start and his fifth since being traded to the Dodgers. In his four previous starts, the 28-year-old has a 3-0 record with a 3.22 ERA, 3.71 FIP and 1.25 WHIP.
Flaherty has increased his use of knuckle curveballs with the Dodgers, showing how he can manipulate the shape of his best pitch. In his last outing against the Seattle Mariners, Flaherty caused a lot of mishits and called strikes.
Now in his eighth year in the MLB and having never played against the Orioles before Tuesday’s start, Flaherty finished the 2023 season with Baltimore after being traded there from the St. Louis Cardinals.
Flaherty’s opponent is left-hander Cole Irvin, who is making his 23rd appearance this season (16th start). The 30-year-old has a 4.82 ERA, a 1.41 WHIP and just 68 strikeouts in 99 innings pitched.
In his last seven games, Irvin has an ERA of 8.59, a WHIP of 1.77, with eight walks and just 14 strikeouts in 22 innings. His poor performance has been mostly as a relief pitcher, but as a starter he has a ERA of 4.07.
With a wRC+ of 116 against left-handed pitchers, the Dodgers rank fourth in the MLB and have the fourth-place hard hit ratio in these encounters at 33.3%.
But the Dodgers will be without Freddie Freeman, who has only thrown 3 of 23 pitches in six games since suffering a hairline fracture in the middle finger of his right hand. This means that Kiké Hernández will once again be at first base, only the second time this year in this position and the ninth time overall.
Dodgers lineup
DH: Shohei Ohtani
RF: Mookie Betts
LF: Teoscar Hernández
C: Will Smith
Midfield: Tommy Edman
SS: Miguel Rojas
3B: Max Muncy
1B: Kiké Hernández
2B: Chris Taylor
Orioles lineup
LF: Colton Cowser
C: Adley Rutschman
SS: Gunnar Henderson
RF: Anthony Santander
1B: Ryan O’Hearn
DH: Eloy Jiménez
Midfield: Cedric Mullins
2B: Jackson Holliday
3B: Ramon Urías
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