After a rough series against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Los Angeles Dodgers have bounced back with two straight victories over the San Diego Padres during Players’ Weekend.
They go for the three-game sweep on Sunday afternoon and send left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu to the mound to do so. Ryu is coming off perhaps his worst start of the season, allowing four hits and three runs while striking out four and walking one in four innings against the Cardinals.
He has otherwise been outstanding in his eight starts this season, going 3-1 with a 2.27 ERA, 3.05 FIP and 0.86 WHIP with 46 strikeouts and 11 walks in 39.2 innings.
Ryu has fared well against the Padres in his career, posting a 5-1 record to go along with a 2.63 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in eight starts. Ryu’s start was pushed up to Sunday in order to line him up to be one of four pitchers that gets the ball against the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend.
The Padres counter with a lefty of their own in 27-year-old Robbie Erlin, who has appeared in 33 games (six starts) this season. In 80.2 innings, he is 3-3 with a 3.46 ERA, 3.13 FIP and 1.02 WHIP with 65 strikeouts and only eight walks.
Erlin has pitched against the Dodgers five times (three starts) in his career and has yielded a respectable 3.00 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. His last start against them was on April 15, when he got roughed up for seven hits and five earned runs, lasting just three innings.
Justin Turner has been on a tear as of late for the Dodgers. He is batting .405/.476/.703 with four home runs and 12 RBI in his last 18 games and delivered walk-off single on Saturday night after a 20-minute delay because of a power outage.
Manny Machado has also heated up in his last 10 games, hitting .295/.380/.591 with four home runs and 10 RBI. He has 30 home runs on the year.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Brian Dozier
3B: Justin Turner
SS: Manny Machado
LF: Matt Kemp
1B: Kiké Hernandez
CF: Chris Taylor
RF: Yasiel Puig
C: Austin Barnes
P: Hyun-Jin Ryu
