The Los Angeles Dodgers are in their final week’s worth of Cactus League games and on Thursday play the first of back-to-back contests at night.
Their game against the San Francisco Giants is the first of two meetings over the next six days. After playing at Camelback Ranch for the last three games, the Dodgers now are at Scottsdale Stadium.
James Paxton takes the mound for his second Spring Training start of the year as he looks to build on two innings of work against the Cincinnati Reds on Feb. 29. He allowed just one run on two hits and collected four strikeouts in that outing.
“It feels good,” Paxton said of his health the start. “Just timing things up. Felt a little bit like things were not clicking out there, but I felt good with where we’re at. Kind of right where I should be right now.”
Last season, Paxton went 7-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 19 starts for the Boston Red Sox. Some health concerns led to the Dodgers reworking their one-year contract with the veteran left-hander.
Kyle Hurt, Nabil Crismatt and Kevin Gowdy are also scheduled to pitch for the Dodgers.
Their lineup includes regulars Will Smith, Teoscar Hernández, James Outman, Kiké Hernández, Miguel Rojas and Jason Heyward.
Former third-round draft pick Kyle Harrison is on the mound for the Giants. Harrison went two innings in his first start of Spring Training, which was a scoreless outing, and allowed one run over 2.1 innings last week.
The Dodgers are getting their first look at Jung Hoo Lee, who signed a six-year, $113 million contract with the Giants during the offseason. Also in the Giants lineup is another notable addition in Matt Chapman.
Dodgers lineup
SS: Kiké Hernández
2B: Miguel Rojas
C: Will Smith
LF: Teoscar Hernández
CF: James Outman
DH: Miguel Vargas
RF: Jason Heyward
1B: Kevin Padlo
2B: Andre Lipcius
Giants lineup
CF: Jung Hoo Lee
1B: Wilmer Flores
LF: Michael Conforto
DH: Jorge Soler
3B: Matt Chapman
RF: Mike Yastrzemski
2B: Thairo Estrada
C: Patrick Bailey
SS: Nick Ahmed
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