Cody Snavely
The Los Angeles Dodgers head to St.Louis to finish off a seven-game road trip in an Opening Day rematch between the Cardinals and Dodgers. In back-to-back-to-back series of National League Central teams, the Dodgers look to head home with a winning road trip after splitting a four-game series with the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers.
It has been another rocky season for the Cardinals, who are under .500 and on the outside looking in for a postseason spot. Entering today, St. Louis is only four games out from the final National League wild-card spot, but any thought of winning the division has seemed to fly out the window. They are in third place, tied with the Cincinnati Reds, and nine games out from the Brewers.
It is a stark contrast to what the Cardinals have been for much of the 2000s, losing more games despite having two of the league’s best players in Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt and are on a four-game losing streak and only having three wins in their last ten games.
The Dodgers enter this series only two games ahead of the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks, their lowest lead since the beginning of the regular season in April.
Over the last two months, the Dodgers have seen their once nine-game lead shirk while having the third-best record in the National League post-all-star break.
The Dodgers have six wins over their last ten games, which is respectable, but when the two teams below you have only one loss in their last ten, it complicates matters.
For the first time since 2021, the Dodgers are in the midst of a division race this late into the season, making every game matter that much more. With only forty games remaining, the team must take advantage of the twenty that are against teams under .500, including this Cardinals team.
Pitching match-ups
Game One: TBD (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs Miles Mikolas (8-9, 5.30 ERA)
Game Two: Tyler Glasnow (9-6, 3.49 ERA) vs Andre Pallante (4-6, 4.21 ERA)
Game Three: Clayton Kershaw (LHP) (1-2, 3.50 ERA) vs Sonny Gray (11-7, 3.93 ERA)
Game Times
Game One: 5:15 PM PT, SNLA, Bally Sports Midwest, MLB Network (out-of-market only)
Game Two: 4:15 PM PT, FOX
Game Three: 11:15 AM PT, SNLA, Bally Sports Midwest
Who’s in & who’s out?
Over the last few weeks, the Los Angeles Dodgers have relieved Tyler Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Michael Grove, and Mookie Betts from the injured list.
Betts returned to the Dodgers lineup, sliding back to right field and down to the two-hole with Shohei Ohtani as the leadoff man. Betts made his presence known by having back-to-back multi-hit games before getting an off day on Thursday’s series finale, but he is fully healthy for this series.
Glasnow and Kershaw have each made multiple starts, helping fill out some depth in a starting rotation that was desperate for this for most of the summer due to injuries.
In the bullpen, the Dodgers are also expected to activate right-handed pitcher Ryan Brasier, who has been out with a strained right calf since May.
Over the last several weeks, Brasier has made multiple appearances on a minor league rehab assignment totaling up to eight games with eight innings of work, allowing only four hits and zero runs while also striking out twelve batters.
For a Dodgers bullpen that has ranked fourth in innings pitched since July 15th, Brasier’s return will provide a much-needed fresh arm to help alleviate the workload.
For tonight’s series opener, the Los Angeles Dodgers will have Bobby Miller or left-handed pitcher Justin Wrobleski join the team to make a pot start, allowing Kershaw and Glasnow an extra day of rest.
As for the Cardinals, a large part of their skid has also been due to injuries throughout the season.
Kicking off with former Dodger Lance Lynn, who has been on the 15-day injured list due to right knee inflammation, is expected to return the week of August 19th, missing this series.
The Cardinals also placed Dodgers killer Matt Carpenter on the 10-day injured list due to a lower back strain and recalled former top prospect Jordan Walker, who has hit .257 in Triple-A.
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