Dodgers Astros Game Three Preview

It had been two years since the Dodgers lost four straight games, and now they’ve done so twice in the last week. So surely they will avoid losing five straight for the first time since early 2013, right?

They have the right man on the hill to break the losing streak, as Clayton Kershaw looks to put more pressure on Zack Greinke in the Cy Young race. Greinke was good yesterday, but got burned by two homers. The Astros have belted two homers in each of the first two games against the Dodgers. Kershaw has allowed 12 homers in 24 starts this year and has only given up one since June 22. 

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Kershaw, a Dallas native, hasn’t made a start in Texas since April 2012 against Houston back when they were in the National League. He threw seven scoreless innings and struck out nine in that game. In four career starts in Houston, Kershaw is 1-1 with a 3.91 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 23 innings. Current Astros have 17 hits in 58 at bats against Kershaw in the past, and Carlos Gomez is hitting .300 with a homer in the past off Kershaw.

Rookie Lance McCullers will make his 15th start for the Astros. In his seven previous starts at home, McCullers is 4-0 and has allowed seven earned runs in 42 innings. Opponents are only hitting .178 against him, but he’s coming off a start at Texas where he gave up six runs and seven hits and only recorded one out before being pulled on August 3rd. No current Dodger has a major league at bat against him.

A.J. Ellis is back behind the plate for Kershaw. In his last start, Ellis walked four times and hit a 3-run homer to give the Dodgers a lead that the bullpen would eventually lose.

Despite the acquisition of Chase Utley, Enrique Hernandez has still started all three games in the series (one at second, two in center). Joc Pederson is on the bench for the second straight game.

First pitch is scheduled for 11:10 PST and will be shown on Sportsbet LA and TBS (Blacked out in local markets).