After splitting the first two games, the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers now play a series rubber match at Dodger Stadium on Thursday.
For the Dodgers, they’re coming off a loss that ended in dramatic fashion and in the midst of playing 12 consecutive games in a row. They still hold a comfortable lead in the National League West standings but are just 6-4 in their last 10 games.
True to manager Dave Roberts asserting conversations with Andy Pages were not disciplinary, he remains in the Dodgers lineup one night after getting thrown out at home plate to end the game. Pages took full responsibility for his miscue as the tying run and deemed it part of his learning process.
Pages is batting .395 (17-for-43) with two doubles, one home run, three RBI and seven walks in his last 13 games.
Corey Seager, who hit a game-winning home run Wednesday night, was scratched from the lineup. Seager went into the series battling a left hamstring strain that ultimately limited him to starting just one of three games against his former teammates.
Michael Grove takes the mound as the opener in a Dodgers bullpen game. Grove is 4-2 with a 4.72 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 26 games (one start) so far this season.
Grove last pitched in the series opener against the Rangers, when he allowed one run over one inning of work. He’s being pressed into starting duty Thursday in order to provide Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow with extra rest.
Yamamoto had been originally scheduled to start Thursday on what is his first bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium. The first 40,000 ticketed fans in attendance nevertheless will receive a Yoshinobu Yamamoto bobblehead.
California State University, Fullerton product Michael Lorenzen is making his 11th start of the season. The right-hander is 3-3 with a 3.05 ERA and has allowed two earned runs or fewer in five consecutive outings.
A victory would give the Dodgers a 2-1 record against the Rangers this season, which was the outcome when they met at Globe Life Field last year.
Los Angeles is 23-15 all-time against Texas, which includes a 10-7 record at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers have won 11 of their last 15 games against the Rangers.
Dodgers lineup
SS: Mookie Betts
DH: Shohei Ohtani
1B: Freddie Freeman
LF: Teoscar Hernández
CF: Andy Pages
RF: Jason Heyward
2B: Gavin Lux
3B: Cavan Biggio
C: Austin Barnes
Rangers lineup
2B: Marcus Semien
SS: Josh Smith
RF: Adolis García
1B: Nathaniel Lowe
LF: Wyatt Langford
C: Jonah Heim
DH: Travis Jankowski
3B: Ezequiel Duran
CF: Leody Taveras
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