Athletics at Dodgers
The defending National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers are off to a 3-6 start and hope their bats begin to wake up as they host the Oakland Athletics in a two-game interleague series beginning Tuesday. Los Angeles, which won at San Francisco 2-1 in 10 innings Sunday, is hitting .213 and tries to get better against Oakland (4-7), which has lost three of four after Sunday's 6-1 setback to the Angels in Anaheim.
"I think we’ve seen early on in the season we’ve been a little too impatient - very uncharacteristic,'' Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters. "I just know our group. I know our guys. To put those relentless at-bats together, we’re just not doing that as consistently as we’ve seen. … There just needs to be a better pitch-to-pitch focus.” The Athletics' Sean Manaea was sharp in his first two starts of the season - both at home - and opposes Hyun-Jin Ryu, who pitches for the first time since April 2. Ryu was moved up a day to replace Alex Wood, who along with 2017 National League Rookie of the Year Cody Bellinger suffered from food poisoning over the weekend in San Francisco. Wood is scheduled to start Wednesday while Bellinger is expected back in the starting lineup Tuesday after entering Sunday as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning, and doubling and scoring in the 10th.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network; NBCS California (Oakland), SportsNet LA (Los Angeles)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics LH Sean Manaea (1-1, 1.15 ERA) vs. Dodgers LH Hyun-Jin Ryu (0-0, 7.36)
Manaea matched a career high when he pitched eight innings, allowing one run, three hits and a walk while striking out four in a 6-2 victory over Texas on Wednesday. “It’s been amazing,” the 26-year-old Indiana native told reporters about his newfound level of confidence. “Not caving in to situations like I did in the past. Just having that confidence to put my foot down and know I’m not gonna let anyone score is huge. It’s a world of difference between last year and this year.” Manaea, who has never faced the Dodgers, yielded one run, four hits and struck out seven in 7 2/3 innings of Oakland's 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on March 30.
Ryu, who has never faced the Athletics, struggled with his fastball command, permitting three runs, five hits and five walks while striking out two in 3 2/3 innings of Los Angeles' 8-7 loss at Arizona in his only appearance of the season. With a day off Thursday and Friday's game at San Francisco rained out, Roberts elected to skip Kenta Maeda and Ryu's spots in the rotation. "It's a good group of guys in understanding that it's not ideal for any of these guys," Roberts told reporters. "To be open to some adjustments, that's what it calls for. Fortunately for us, our guys are on board with that."
WALK-OFFS
1. Oakland 3B Matt Chapman went 0-for-3 on Sunday after going 14-for-29 with three homers, eight RBIs and nine runs scored in his previous eight games.
2. Dodgers C Yasmani Grandal is 2-for-12 in his last four games after starting the season 7-for-16.
3. The Athletics, who play their first 22 games on the west coast, are 0-3 when the opponent starts a left-hander this season.