Dodgers Pirates Game Two Preview

After dropping game one to the Pirates last night, the Dodgers look to get their first win of the series this afternoon with Brandon McCarthy on the hill.

Last night was rough to say the least. The Dodgers were swinging hot bats, but could not manage to get runners home. They ended the night with 12 hits, but just scored one run. Ross Stripling struggled right off the bat, but slowly settled down throughout the game. Sadly it was not enough. The only thing that was in the Dodgers favor last night was the fact that the Giants also lost. Today they face the Bucks again as they trail by one game in the NL West.

Brandon McCarthy threw two bullpen sessions this week and is now scheduled to make his start today. McCarthy struggled in his last few outings. He had absolutely not command over his fastball in his last two starts. He even threw behind a few batters and back to the back stop. Clearly there was a problem. In McCarthy’s last two starts he walked a career high five batters, in each start as he failed to get through four innings. While nothing has been announced injury wise, it is clear that McCarthy has not been himself lately. Since coming back from Tommy John this season, McCarthy currently has a record of 2-2 and an ERA of 3.00. He looks to make up for his last two starts and comeback stronger than ever this afternoon as the Dodgers look for their first win of the series.

The Pirates will be sending Gerrit Cole to the mound. Cole has been the Pirates ace for a few seasons now. The 25 year-old right handed pitcher is coming into today’s start with a record of 7-7 and an ERA of 2.94. In his 17 starts this year, Cole has struck out 83 batters and walked 28. According to Brooks Baseball, Cole primarily throws a fourseam fastball (96MPH), while mixing in a slider (88 MPH), sinker (96 MPH), curve (82 MPH) and change (89 MPH). His slider tends to generate ground balls, but his sinker usually generates K’s due to its velocity.

Today’s lineup is almost identical to last night’s. The only major difference is that A.J Ellis is catching behind the plate. Dave Roberts is giving Yasmani Grandal a well deserved day off. Grandal tends to fly under the radar, but the guy has been clutch for the Dodgers as of lately. Alex recently wrote about Granda;’s success and if you wanted to check it out, you can find it here.

Another little injury update, Brett Anderson is expected to make a start tomorrow.  Anderson has been sidelined the first four months of the season as he struggled with back injuries. If he makes his scheduled start for tomorrow, that will be his 2016 Dodger debut.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 PM and will be shown on Sports Net LA.