After suffering a loss on Opening Day, the Los Angeles Dodgers bounced back to get their first win of the season behind a barrage of more hits. L.A. has tallied a combined 31 hits through the first two games of the Opening Series with the Colorado Rockies.
“It’s always nice winning. Just get the first one out of the way, it’s a long year,” Corey Seager said after his three-hit effort. “We’re just trying to win a series now.”
The Rockies were the only team to take a series from the Dodgers last season, and a win on Saturday would put them in position to potentially do so this year.
Walker Buehler takes the mound for his 2021 debut as he looks to move on from a bit of a shaky close to Spring Training. Buehler was sharp early into Cactus League play, which was a byproduct of throwing more regularly during the offseason.
Buehler is a career 1-1 with a 5.12 ERA in seven games (five starts) at Coors Field. He did not pitch in the Rockies’ home ballpark last season.
The Rockies counter with Jon Gray, who went 2-4 with a 6.69 ERA in eight starts last year. One of those came at Dodger Stadium, when Gray allowed four runs on seven hits and only managed to get through 3.2 innings.
He faces a Dodgers lineup on Saturday that has Austin Barnes back behind the plate. He was removed during the seventh inning on Opening Day after getting his right hand spiked during a collision at home plate.
“I think he’s doing better than we first thought as far as to the eye,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said prior to Friday’s win, “Scheduled day off today, I still expect him to be in there [Saturday]. Now it’s just little cuts all over his hand.”
While Barnes returns, Mookie Betts and Justin Turner get their respective first game off of the young season. The domino effect includes Gavin Lux being moved up to the leadoff spot.
Dodgers lineup
2B: Gavin Lux
SS: Corey Seager
RF: Chris Taylor
CF: Cody Bellinger
1B: Max Muncy
LF: AJ Pollock
3B: Edwin Rios
C: Austin Barnes
P: Walker Buehler
Rockies lineup
LF: Raimel Tapia
CF: Garrett Hampson
SS: Trevor Story
RF: Charlie Blackmon
1B: C.J. Cron
2B: Ryan McMahon
3B: Josh Fuentes
C: Dom Nuñez
P: Jon Gray
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