Dodgers Cubs Game Three Preview

The Dodgers look to close out their homestand with a series win against the Cubs.

A quick recap since we were unable to do one for last night’s game. Julio Urias shoved and had his most impressive outing (considering who it came against). The offense did enough, the bullpen held on. Matt Kemp and Jim Johnson led the Dodgers to a second victory as they beat the Giants. Overall, good day.

The Dodgers get one last look at the Cubs during the regular season. If the Dodgers are going anywhere in the postseason, they’ll likely have to go through the Cubs. A series win today would go a long way.

Dodgers Starter

Brock Stewart gets a spot start for the Dodgers, allowing them to push Kenta Maeda to tomorrow. Stewart gets the call over Jose De Leon, who starts for OKC today. Despite being lined up, De Leon still hasn’t gotten the call. Andrew went into detail about that yesterday, and while JDL is more than deserving of a promotion, the numbers game isn’t in his favor right now.

This will be Stewarts third start and fourth appearance this season. Stewarts two starts have not gone well. He allowed five runs in five innings in his debut in Milwaukee, but all the runs came in one nightmare of an inning. He allowed nine runs in four innings in Colorado in his second start. His relief appearance came at Dodger Stadium, and he allowed a run in three innings.

Cubs Starter

Jon Lester gets the ball for the Cubs. Lester’s 2.81 ERA is fifth-best in the NL and only third-best on the Cubs. He had a couple really rough starts in June, but otherwise he’s been one of the most consistent starters in baseball. He’s gone at least six innings in 20 of 25 starts. His best start came against the Dodgers, where he threw his only complete game of the season and struck out 10.

Lester is pretty dominant at the mound, but if the Dodgers get runners on, they should be able to make things happen on the basepaths. From 2013 to 2016, Lester has allowed 94 stolen bases and only caught 30. Part of that is because of his lack of pickoff move. David Ross doesn’t exactly have a gun back there, and he plays in the same division as Billy Hamilton. The Dodgers don’t have a ton of speed, but they should be able to steal some bases today.

Dodgers Lineup

Lester is a lefty, so we get a strange lineup. Enrique Hernandez starts in center and Rob Segedin starts in right. Yasmani Grandal keeps his start behind the plate against a lefty, but Charlie Culberson is at second.

The rosters will expand on Thursday, so there’s already news there. Austin Barnes, Louis Coleman and Casey Fein will definitely be called up. Yasiel Puig and De Leon are being discussed as well.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 PM PST and will be shown on SNLA and TBS (no blackouts).