The Dodgers (55-30) took the series opener against the A’s (40-45) last night in 9-4 performance that saw the team log 17 hits in one of the most hitter-friendly parks in the league. Eric Lauer continued to perform well, logging a quality start in a park that is very unkind to pitchers. With Emmet Sheehan and Roki Sasaki struggling recently, in addition to the River Ryan hamstring injury, all of a sudden Lauer is important, and it’s promising to see his success continue. Tonight, Justin Wrobleski will look to continue his fantastic first half of the season, up against the left-handed Jeffrey Springs for the A’s.
6:40 P.M.
Sacramento
DH
Ohtani (L)
CF
Bolte
CF
Pages
C
Langeliers
1B
Freeman (L)
1B
Kurtz (L)
SS
Betts
DH
Heim (S)
LF
T. Hernández
LF
Meneses
RF
Tucker (L)
RF
Thomas
3B
Edman (S)
3B
Muncy
2B
Rojas
SS
Williams
C
Rushing (L)
2B
Kuroda-Grauer
P
Wrobleski (L)
P
Springs (L)
The Dodgers will run out nearly the same lineup as they did in the series opener, with the lone changing being Tommy Edman starting at third base in place of Max Muncy. The A’s will keep the same batting order, but will put right-handed bats in both corner outfield positions in Joey Meneses and Colby Thomas.
The A’s didn’t necessarily have a bad day at the plate yesterday, tallying four runs on eleven hits and three walks, they just couldn’t keep pace with the Dodgers. Every starter in the Dodgers’ lineup logged at least two hits aside from Mookie Betts who was 1-for-5, while Max Muncy, Shohei Ohtani, and Andy Pages all homered. Teoscar Hernández struck out three times, but also managed to log those two hits, and he’ll look to keep that performance going against another favorable matchup in Springs.
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Wrobleski earned his ninth win of the season his last time out against Minnesota, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out three batters over seven innings. He continued his excellent form, and has just a 2.05 ERA over his last five starts and 30.2 innings pitched. Overall, it’s a 2.71 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, and a 9-2 record in 86.1 innings pitched, a sensational first half thus far for Wrobleski who has been worthy of an All-Star nod, whether or not he gets it. He has the 12th lowest ERA among qualified starters, the seventh lowest WHIP, and is tied for the most wins at 9. It’s not a favorable environment to pitch in, but he’s gotten results almost every time he’s taken the ball this season.
Springs has had a rough go of it so far, with a 5.52 ERA, 5.63 FIP, and a 1.33 WHIP across 88.0 innings and 17 starts. If you’re wondering why the A’s are below .500, that kind of performance starting every fifth day has been a problem for them. He’s been fine on the road with a 4.38 ERA across 39 innings, but that results in a 6.43 ERA in 49 innings at home. In his home starts, he’s allowed a .280/.332/.550 slash line against him, which isn’t a far cry from the Dodgers’ Max Muncy this season, at .265/.361/.512. Not great.
He’s a pretty straightforward lefty, sitting in the low-90’s with his four-seam fastball, which he throws over 40% of the time to both left and right-handed batters. He pairs that with a mid-80’s slider that he throws nearly half the time against left-handed batters, and a change that sits around 80 that he throws almost exclusively to right-handed batters. He’s coming off a decent outing against the Giants where he allowed just three runs over 5.1 innings on the road, but coming back to this park against an in-form Dodger lineup is a tough ask. Still, it’s baseball and he can be solid if the bats don’t show up.
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In other news,
Logically it’s good to ensure that he gets adequate rest, especially with the recent blister issue….however this ballpark is evil to pitchers, and Ohtani’s shiny 1.58 ERA deserves better.
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First pitch is at 6:40 PT on SNLA.
