The Los Angeles Dodgers’ 10-game homestand continues on the Fourth of July holiday as they host the Baltimore Orioles for the start of a three-game series. Baltimore is visiting Dodger Stadium for only the second time, and were swept in their last visit in 2004.
Los Angeles enters with a season-high nine-game home winning streak and a season-high 10 games over .500. Their 47-37 record is identical to their marks in 2014 and 2015. The Interleague series begins with young left-hander Julio Urias on the mound for the Dodgers.
Urias is fresh off earning his first career win in the Majors, during which he allowed just two runs over six innings of work against the Milwaukee Brewers. Urias walked six batters, the most of any start, but also had six strikeouts.
Overall, he’s 1-2 with a 4.09 ERA, 3.63 FIP and 1.46 WHIP. He faces an Orioles team that leads the Majors with 128 home runs. Collectively, Baltimore is batting .272/.332/.469 this season. It’s also the fifth time in eight starts where Urias faces a club that has at least a share of first place in their respective division.
Urias is opposed by fellow Mexican native Yovani Gallardo, who the Dodgers were linked to last season and during the winter. Gallardo is coming off a victory against the San Diego Padres, allowing three runs on three hits over six innings.
He’s 3-4 with a 4.60 ERA and 1.35 ERA in nine career starts against the Dodgers. However, in his most recent outing — last season — Gallardo tossed seven scoreless innings to earn a win with the Texas Rangers.
Gallardo is allowing a career-high 10 hits per nine innings this season, which isn’t much of a surprise in his second season in the American League. Also, he’s issuing a career-high 4.2 walks per nine innings, while sporting a career-low 1.44 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The 30-year-old is 3-1 with a 5.77 ERA, 4.74 FIP and 1.57 WHIP this season. Corey Seager, starting at shortstop, looks to extend his Major League-leading 16-game hitting streak, while Justin Turner is 6-for-15 in his career against Gallardo.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
CF: Trayce Thompson
RF: Yasiel Puig
C: Yasmani Grandal
LF: Will Venable
P: Julio Urias
Orioles lineup
CF: Adam Jones
2B: Jonathan Schoop
3B: Manny Machado
RF: Mark Trumbo
1B: Chris Davis
C: Matt Wieters
SS: J.J. Hardy
LF: Joey Rickard
P: Yovani Gallardo
