After another losing road trip, the Los Angeles Dodgers return home to open a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday. The goals are to get their season — and their star player — back on track.
The Dodgers lost four of six games on a trip to Atlanta and Detroit, which leaves them 6-10 in road games since July 26. Adding to the concern is that Shohei Ohtani’s lack of production from the leadoff spot has helped cause the offense to stall for nearly a month.
Ohtani not only had a .148 batting average on the road trip, he extended his streak without an RBI to 10 games. Since Aug. 7, he is batting .202 with a .699 OPS to drop his season OPS from .954 to .909.
Freddie Freeman has not hit a home run since July 4 — a stretch of 46 games — though he has batted .318 with 10 doubles over that stretch.
The Dodgers hope their 6-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday signals better things ahead at the plate. Veteran catcher Will Smith (neck) is expected to be activated Tuesday after missing nearly three months.
“As a group, we talk to each other. We know we’re gonna be fine,” said Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez, who hit a two-run home run Sunday for his first homer since Aug. 3. “Everybody goes through struggles. It happens to be for us right now.”
With Roki Sasaki on the 15-day injured list, left-hander Eric Lauer (8-6, 4.78 ERA) is set to take the mound Tuesday. Since joining the Dodgers in May, Lauer is 7-1 with a 3.78 ERA in 13 appearances (11 starts). However, he is 2-4 with a 6.92 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) against the Cardinals.
St. Louis is expected to send right-hander Michael McGreevy (5-9, 3.86) to the mound. McGreevy is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in two career starts against the Dodgers, including six scoreless innings while earning the win on May 2 at St. Louis.
The Cardinals are five games out of the NL’s final wild-card spot as they open a nine-game, three-city road trip against NL West clubs that includes stops at Colorado and San Francisco. St. Louis will play 15 of its last 24 games on the road.
The road trip will open without rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt, who was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday due to right wrist tendinitis. The Cards’ leadoff man is batting .242 with 17 home runs, 48 RBIs and 14 stolen bases in 130 games.
Shortstop Masyn Winn (thumb) might be ready to return from the injured list Tuesday. He’s expected back in the lineup in early September.
The Cardinals dropped the final two games of a three-game home series against the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend and have lost seven of their last nine. In Sunday’s 5-4 loss, Alec Burleson drove in a run to become the second MLB player with 100 RBIs this season.
“Other guys are stepping up,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol told reporters Sunday. “I love watching what (Bryan) Torres did in the leadoff spot. Just took some gritty at-bats. (The road trip) is an opportunity for guys to show what they’re capable of doing. It’s being consistent with our identity, which I feel our guys have done that.”
With rosters expanding, St. Louis is expected to add catcher Leo Bernal and right-hander Hancel Rincon.
–Field Level Media
