Soaring once more despite a rash of injuries, the Los Angeles Dodgers will play host to a playoff rematch starting Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Dodgers lost a pair of position players this week when infielder Enrique Hernandez’s return from elbow surgery was cut short by an oblique injury, and outfielder Teoscar Hernandez went down with a hamstring injury.
The club returned infielder Alex Freeland to the roster from Triple-A Oklahoma City, while Alex Call and longtime power-hitting minor leaguer Ryan Ward will share time in left field.
“It’s pretty frustrating for us,” Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages said of the injuries, according to ESPN. “We have the opportunity to see them work hard every day and prepare so that those things don’t happen. But (injuries are) going to happen all the time.”
Pages has been doing his part of late. He was moved up to the No. 2 spot in the order this week and has three home runs in his past four games. The Dodgers are riding a team-wide power surge, with eight home runs in the past two games.
The club has won five straight games and 12 of its past 14 contests.
Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (6-2, 3.07 ERA) is set to take the mound in the series opener. He has just one career appearance against the Phillies and it was a struggle when he gave up five runs while recording just one out in relief last season.
Wrobleski opened the season 5-0 with a 1.25 ERA through six starts, but he is 1-2 with a 6.41 ERA over his last three outings.
The last time the Phillies played in Los Angeles, they were eliminated from the National League Division Series in a bizarre ending. Right-hander Orion Kerkering was left in tears after making a wild throw home with two outs instead of taking the out at first base to extend the game.
The miscue gave Los Angeles a 2-1 series-clinching victory in the 11th inning of Game 4.
Kerkering seems to be using the moment as inspiration with a 2.21 ERA through his first 23 appearances this season.
The Phillies enter the series off a three-game sweep at San Diego, allowing just three runs in the series.
Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez is on a franchise-record 44 2/3-inning scoreless streak but will not pitch in the series. Instead, Philadelphia will turn to right-hander Zack Wheeler (4-0, 1.67), who is on his own scoreless innings streak.
Wheeler did not allow a run in either of his last two outings, and he is coming off a start Saturday against the Cleveland Guardians when he had six strikeouts over six scoreless innings while earning the win.
Wheeler is 3-2 with a 4.35 ERA in seven career starts against the Dodgers.
The series will mark the return of former Dodgers manager Don Mattingly to Los Angeles. Mattingly has guided the Phillies to a 20-8 turnaround since Rob Thomson was fired with a 9-19 record to start the season.
“Obviously, the Dodgers have been the world champions the last two years, so they’re going to bring plenty of trouble for us,” said Mattingly, who managed the Dodgers from 2011-15. “But we just got to play good baseball and take care of our own business and keep it simple. Usually, the team that plays the best baseball wins, so just look at it like that.”
–Field Level Media
