The Los Angeles Dodgers have reached the end of their seven-game road trip and need a win to avoid a losing record and a loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Dodgers entered the weekend at Busch Stadium on a two-game losing streak and faced a Cardinals team that had lost five games in a row. LA and St. Louis won the first two games and now play a playoff game on Sunday afternoon.
Clayton Kershaw is facing an opponent he knows well. While Paul Godlschmidt is practically the only one left from multiple postseason battles, pitching in St. Louis has proven challenging at times.
Kershaw is 3-4 with a 4.19 ERA in nine career starts at Busch Stadium during the regular season.
Sunday’s start will be Kershaw’s fifth of the season since returning from left shoulder surgery. He held the Milwaukee Brewers to one run in 5.2 innings earlier in the Dodgers’ tour.
The left-hander is 1-2 with a 3.50 ERA, 3.01 FIP and 1.39 WHIP so far this year. Kershaw pitched twice against the Cardinals last season, going 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA.
Sonny Gray plays for the Cardinals, which has been a modest first season for him with the team. Gray has a record of 11-7 with a 3.93 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP after 22 starts. He began the year on the 15-day injured list due to a strained right hamstring and therefore did not pitch during the series at Dodger Stadium earlier this season.
Gray sees a Dodgers lineup that does not include Freddie Freeman as he deals with a swollen middle finger on his right hand after he jammed it while catching a grounder in the sixth inning on Saturday. Freeman was taken out of the game in the second half of the eighth inning, but X-rays were negative.
In Freeman’s absence, Kiké Hernández plays first base and Gavin Lux bats third in the lineup.
Dodgers lineup
DH: Shohei Ohtani
RF: Mookie Betts
2B: Gavin Lux
LF: Teoscar Hernández
3B: Miguel Rojas
Midfield: Kevin Kiermaier
1B: Kiké Hernández
C: Austin Barnes
SS: Nick Ahmed
Cardinals lineup
SS: Masyn Winn
DH: Willson Contreras
LF: Tommy Pham
3B: Nolan Arenado
1B: Paul Goldschmidt
2B: Brendan Donovan
RF: Jordan Walker
C: Pedro Pages
Midfield: Victor Scott II
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