Dodgers Reds Game Two Preview

After a seemingly vital victory on Tuesday, the Dodgers now sit 2.5 games ahead of the Giants and look to start a little winning streak in Cincinnati.

Brett Anderson gets the ball for his second start of the month against Cincinnati. Yesterday’s winning pitcher, Alex Wood, won his two starts against Cincinnati and Anderson is looking to match that. He’s gone exactly six innings in three of his four August starts and has allowed exactly three runs in each of his last two.

Aug 8, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Cincinnati Reds third baseman Todd Frazier (21) looks on against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

He allowed three runs and six hits in six innings at Dodger Stadium against the Reds on August 15th for his seventh victory of the season. He got bitten by the longball in the first by Todd Frazier. Among qualified starters, Anderson currently owns the highest ground ball rate in baseball (66.4 percent), but he also has the fifth highest home run/fly ball ratio (16.5 percent), which could play poorly at Great American Ballpark. This is his first career start there, but it’s very home run friendly and could be problematic for Anderson.

David Holmberg will be on the hill for Cincinnati, and he has not been good this year. His 6.57 ERA is somehow lower than his FIP (7.62) and the Dodgers lit him up in that August 15th game to the tune of seven runs in two innings. Yasiel Puig, Enrique Hernandez and Justin Turner each took him deep in that game.

With the exception of the pitchers’ spot, this is the exact same lineup that the Dodgers had yesterday. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it I guess.

Yasmani Grandal has shoulder soreness and Don Mattingly said he probably wouldn’t start before Thursday. It kind of makes sense with an early game and Zack Greinke throwing tomorrow, and A.J. Ellis has been productive at the plate this year. There’s a good chance he would get starts against lefties anyways,

First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PST and will be shown on Sportsnet LA.