After no fewer than three no-hit bids fell by the wayside for the Los Angeles Dodgers over the past four games, they now send a pitcher to the mound who accomplished the feat as recently as last season.
Left-hander Blake Snell will take the mound Wednesday for just his ninth start for the Dodgers this season when he faces the visiting Colorado Rockies. It is his seventh start since returning from a long stint on the injured list because of shoulder tendonitis.
Snell (3-4, 3.19 ERA) was with the San Francisco Giants last season when he no-hit the Cincinnati Reds while adding 11 strikeouts.
Los Angeles (81-64) saw Yoshinobu Yamamoto fall one out short of a no-hitter Saturday at Baltimore.
Tyler Glasnow threw seven no-hit innings Monday against the Rockies, only to see Tanner Scott give up a hit in the ninth.
Emmet Sheehan was perfect through five innings Tuesday’s 7-2 win over Colorado.
Snell was nowhere near no-hit form in his most recent outing, when he gave up a season-high nine hits to go along with five runs in a loss at Pittsburgh on Thursday. He also walked three batters.
Up next, though, is the Rockies (40-105). Snell is 3-2 with a 3.30 ERA in 13 career starts against Colorado.
Even with a slim two-game lead on the San Diego Padres in the National League West, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is imploring his players to enjoy the process.
“I think just trying to get our guys to play relaxed and have fun and not kind of put too much pressure on themselves, because there’s a difference between urgency and focus and being uptight,” Roberts said. “And so there’s just that fine line and that balance that you can still have fun and go out there and be yourself and still be focused.”
In the third consecutive win for the Dodgers on Tuesday, Teoscar Hernandez hit two home runs, while Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman had one each. Sheehan ended the night with nine strikeouts over seven innings.
Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman belted his 30th home run of the season.
Colorado is set to send left-hander Kyle Freeland (4-12, 5.10) to the mound on Wednesday.
Freeland enters off his best start of the season when he gave up two hits over eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts Friday at home against the Padres.
“We made some adjustments with my pitch mix and my mechanics over the past couple of months or so that I really feel good about,” Freeland said. “I can carry it into the rest of the season and the offseason.”
The outing also was a learning experience. Freeland was ejected in the first inning after a confrontation with the Giants’ Rafael Devers led to a benches-clearing incident. Freeland called the ruckus “stupid and selfish.”
“(Freeland) is a really, really good leader,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Anytime that you can lead by example, especially when it’s the right thing to do, it’s fantastic.”
A veteran in his ninth season, Freeland is 5-11 with a 4.80 ERA in 25 career starts against the Dodgers.
–Field Level Media
