Dodgers Diamondbacks Game Three Preview

The Dodgers look to take game three in Arizona and shrink their magic number even more.

Yesterday’s game was longer and more stressful than it really needed to be, but the Dodgers held on. Kenta Maeda was inefficiently good, the bullpen worked itself in and out of trouble, and the offense did enough against Zack Greinke once again.

The Giants random awfulness is only surpassed by the Cardinals random awfulness, so the Giants have won the first two games of their series in convincing fashion. The lead is still four games in the west, and keeping it above three before their series against the Giants would be nice.

Dodgers Starter

For a while, Bud Norris was scheduled to start today. Brock Stewart was kept in the bullpen in case Rich Hill or Clayton Kershaw‘s starts were cut short. They each went more than five innings, so Stewart will get the start today in place of Norris.

Stewart had a nightmarish start to his career, as he allowed 14 runs in his first nine innings. Since then (two starts and a relief appearance), Stewart has allowed nine hits and two runs in 13 innings.

He isn’t expected to go super deep into any start, but Stewart has done a good job keeping the Dodgers in the game lately. Stewart, much like the other young Dodger starters, is reportedly on an unspecified innings limit. He threw 101 innings last year in the minors and is already at 143 this year (majors+minors), so this could be one of his final outings of the season.

Stewart’s last outing came against these Diamondbacks back at Dodger Stadium. He allowed a run in the first inning of the game, but held the Diamondbacks scoreless from then on and gave the Dodgers five quality innings.

Diamondbacks Starter

Shelby Miller gets the start for the Diamondbacks, which should give the Dodgers a good shot at getting their offense in order. Miller has been awful this season. He’s given up fewer than three runs in five of his 17 outings and has allowed 10 runs in his last two starts.

Two starts ago, Miller faced the Dodgers and allowed four runs in 4.1 innings. Somehow, that start could have gone a lot worse as Miller allowed 11 hits and the Dodgers left five on base while he was in. Unlike Greinke’s start at Dodger Stadium where he allowed all the homers, Miller allowed all the singles and doubles.

Dodgers Lineup

The wheel of left fielders lands on Andrew Toles today. He’s likely fighting with Andre Ethier for a spot on the postseason roster, and I’m surely hoping he wins out.

Semi concerned that Carlos Ruiz is in the lineup. Yasmani Grandal took a foul ball off the shoulder late in yesterday’s game, and he’s reportedly getting the day off due to soreness. He was likely not going to start tomorrow with a lefty on the hill, but Grandal has had shoulder issues in the past. Last season, we saw how ineffective a bum shoulder made him at the plate, so hopefully he’s ok.

Last night, Kenley Jansen reportedly left the game in a wrist brace. That’s apparently a thing, but Dave Roberts said Jansen would be available today and isn’t worried about the wrist.

Brett Anderson will be activated in the near future, but it’s unknown whether he’ll start or relieve. Alex Wood will also be activated soon, but he’ll definitely be in the pen.

Next: Dodgers 3 Diamondbacks 2

First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 PST and will be shown on SNLA.