The Dodgers have a chance to close out the series against the Padres on Wednesday night, and they’ll do it with a key bat back in the mix.
Los Angeles opened the set with a 7-0 win on Tuesday, leaning on a dominant bullpen game to take control early in the series. That victory also trimmed the Dodgers’ Magic Number to clinch a first-round bye to 1, so one more Dodgers win or one Atlanta Braves loss will secure a top-two seed for LA.
Freddie Freeman said Tuesday the club is hitting its stride at the right time.
“I feel like we’ve just been playing really good baseball as a group lately,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said on Tuesday. “We had to step up when guys went down, and that’s a credit to the guys that have been going, but you want to be playing well going into the playoffs.
We need, what, one more win for that bye? So, that’s what we need.
"We need that, get some rest, then have a great week of practice going into the playoffs. But guys are swinging the bats at the right time, hopefully we can carry that.”
The lineup got an even bigger lift Wednesday with Shohei Ohtani being activated off the 15-day injured list. He’s back in the lineup for the nightcap, though not in his usual spot at the top.
Top prospect Josue De Paula was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Ohtani.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto gets the ball for Los Angeles in his final start of the regular season. The right-hander has put together another strong year, sitting at 14-8 with a 2.51 ERA across 179 innings.
He’s also been excellent against San Diego this season. Yamamoto has already faced the Padres three times, and each outing has been sharp: one run over seven innings with eight strikeouts on May 18, two runs over six innings with four strikeouts on June 27, and then seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts on July 4.
The Padres will counter with Robbie Ray, the veteran lefty they picked up before the trade deadline. Ray has struggled since arriving in brown and gold, posting a 5.22 ERA over 39.2 innings with San Diego. For the Giants earlier this year, he had a 3.08 ERA over 122.2 innings.
Ray saw the Dodgers on May 13 while still with San Francisco, giving up three earned runs, four total runs, over 4.2 innings with two strikeouts.
With Ray on the mound, the Dodgers are going with Mookie Betts leading off and Ohtani batting second. Manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday that could change depending on the pitcher.
“Certainly versus right-handed pitching [Ohtani] will be [leading off],” Roberts said on Tuesday. “I do think I should think through the Mookie versus left situation, but I have to think about the entire lineup structure.”
For Wednesday, Roberts is sticking with Betts in the leadoff spot against the left-hander.
First pitch between the Dodgers and Padres on Wednesday, Sept. 23 is set for 7:10 p.m. PT/10:10 p.m.
ET. The game will air on SportsNet LA and in the MLB app, with radio coverage on AM570 in English and KTNQ 1020 AM in Spanish.
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