After the San Diego Padres earned a split at Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Dodgers now find themselves without home-field advantage for the remainder of the 2022 National League Division Series as it shifts to Petco Park for Games 3 and 4.
For a Los Angeles team that went 14-5 against San Diego in the regular season, including 6-3 this year at Petco Park, Tony Gonsolin takes the mound in just his second start since returning from the 15-day injured list due to a right forearm strain.
While Gonsolin delivered two innings of solid work on October 3 against the Colorado Rockies in his first start back, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the right-hander has worked his way up to 75 pitches.
“I had a really good bullpen the other day,” Gonsolin said before the Dodgers departed to San Diego on Thursday. “I felt like a lot of things clicked in that ‘pen, and then just going out there and seeing how well I can execute all these pitches.”
With Tyler Anderson slated to start in Saturday’s game 4, the hope is that Gonsolin can provide Los Angeles with some length in his start, especially with the dominant 0.71 ERA across 12 innings he posted in the regular season against San Diego in two starts.
Although the initial expectation heading into the postseason was that Gonsolin would be part of a piggyback scenario — likely with Andrew Heaney — Roberts said the Dodgers instead will rely on a “collection of arms” rather than a bulk pitcher out of the bullpen.
For the Padres, Blake Snell makes his first postseason start against the Dodgers since Game 6 of the 2020 World Series.
Snell, whose 2.17 ERA in September was fourth-best in the NL, pitched just 3.1 innings last Saturday against the New York Mets while allowing two earned runs. In three starts this year against Los Angeles, he has an 0-1 record with a 3.86 ERA.
However, Snell’s last start against the Dodgers saw fantastic numbers, as he allowed just one hit in five innings while striking out six.
As Roberts has already stated Cody Bellinger will not be in the lineup for Game 3, it’s worth noting that various Dodgers have found success against Snell.
Freddie Freeman, who went 2-for-4 with a home run in Game 2, is 4-for-9 lifetime against Snell, including two homers. Like Freeman, Chris Taylor and Joey Gallo also have two home runs off the southpaw.
Friday is the first postseason game the Padres have hosted with fans in attendance since 2006. They played in an empty Petco Park during the Wild Card Series in 2020.
The winner of a Game 3 in a best-of-five tied at 1-1 has gone on to win the series 72% of the time.
Dodgers lineup
RF: Mookie Betts
SS: Trea Turner
1B: Freddie Freeman
DH: Will Smith
2B: Max Muncy
3B: Justin Turner
LF: Chris Taylor
CF: Trayce Thompson
C: Austin Barnes
Padres lineup
LF: Jurickson Profar
RF: Juan Soto
3B: Manny Machado
DH: Josh Bell
2B: Jake Cronenworth
1B: Wil Myers
SS: Ha-Seong Kim
CF: Trent Grisham
C: Austin Nola
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