The Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching situation is coming into focus.
Manager Dave Roberts has had to work his rotation around injuries throughout the season, but the Dodgers are just about back at full strength.
On Tuesday night, in the second game of their three-game set in Cincinnati, the Dodgers will send right-hander Tyler Glasnow (1-1, 2.75 ERA) to the mound. He will make his third start since a right shoulder injury sidelined him for May and June.
The Dodgers escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning Monday night and posted a 5-2 win over the Reds in the series opener. Los Angeles evened its mark at 2-2 as it continues a three-city, nine-game road trip against the Boston Red Sox, Reds and Tampa Bay Rays.
After getting swept in Cincinnati in 2024 and losing two of three there in 2023, the Dodgers broke through with a road win against the Reds.
Former Dodgers infielder Gavin Lux went 0-for-2 with two walks and an RBI groundout in the first inning Monday night that tied the game, 1-1.
“It’s always fun,” Lux said of the team he won the World Series with in 2024. “A lot of really good players over there. A lot of guys that I have a lot of respect for and love a lot. It’s fun getting in the lineup against them and being on the other side of it. It was fun.”
Monday’s loss kept Reds manager Terry Francona at 2,006 wins, three wins shy of passing Leo Durocher for 12th on the all-time list.
Despite the Reds’ loss, Glasnow will face a hot team when he makes his ninth start of the season. The Dodgers snapped Cincinnati’s four-game winning streak on Monday, but the Reds remain in the thick of the National League wild-card race.
Glasnow had his best start of the season in his most recent outing on Wednesday, allowing just one run on three hits in seven innings, striking out 12 and walking one. He received a no-decision in a 4-3 win over the Minnesota Twins.
Glasnow is 1-2 with a 4.55 ERA in 12 career appearances against Cincinnati, including three starts.
With Glasnow back, Shohei Ohtani pitching Wednesday, Clayton Kershaw set for Friday in Tampa, and Blake Snell set to make just his third appearance in a Dodgers uniform this weekend against the Rays, Roberts said he is more comfortable about where the rotation stands.
“We feel really good,” he said. “(We’re) kind of trying to stabilize some things in the ‘pen. But I think with the starters, (it’s) encouraging.”
With Snell (left shoulder inflammation) and Glasnow missing most of this season, Monday’s starter and winner Yoshinobu Yamamoto has carried the staff with a 9-7 mark and a 2.48 ERA, third-best in the National League.
“It’s good to see him get back,” Roberts said of Yamamoto. “He was kind of middling for a bit there, (he’s back) to being the dominant pitcher that we know he can be.”
The Reds will counter with left-hander Nick Lodolo (8-6, 3.08 ERA), making his 22nd start of the season.
In his most recent outing, Lodolo tossed the first shutout of his career, holding the Washington Nationals to four hits, striking out eight and walking none in Cincinnati’s 5-0 victory Wednesday. Lodolo became the first Reds pitcher with multiple complete games since Trevor Bauer in 2020.
Lodolo, who has been in the majors since 2022, will start against the Dodgers for the first time in his career.
–Field Level Media
