Up until Thursday, it was only known that Clayton Kershaw would be starting Game 1 of the National League Championship Series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on Friday night.
The rotation behind him will be Hyun-Jin Ryu, Walker Buehler and Rich Hill, but what order they would pitch in remained a mystery as all of them will be on extra rest by the time the series starts.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts tipped his hand on Thursday at the team’s workout though, revealing that Ryu will start Game 2 in Milwaukee, followed by Buehler and Hill in Games 3 and 4, respectively, back at Dodger Stadium, via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times:
Hyun-Jin Ryu will start Game 2. Walker Buehler will start Game 3. Rich Hill will start Game 4.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) October 12, 2018
Both Ryu and Buehler have been a lot better at home than on the road this season, so that was the big question mark regarding who would start Game 2 and who would go in Game 3.
In the NL Division Series, Ryu tossed seven shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 at home. Buehler, on the other hand, pitched on the road and struggled to the tune of five runs in five innings.
The Atlanta crowd may have played a factor in that as he lost his control and walked the opposing pitcher on four pitches and then gave up a grand slam to Ronald Acuña Jr. That could be a reason why they have decided to give him a home start this series.
To close out the series, Kershaw is in line to be back out there in Game 5 at Dodger Stadium, followed by Ryu in Game 6 and then Buehler in a potential decisive Game 7 back in Milwaukee if necessary.
The Brewers also named their rotation for the first three games of the series, with lefties Gio Gonzalez and Wade Miley going in Games 1 and 2 followed by righty Jhoulys Chacin in Game 3.
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