Dodgers at Pirates
The Los Angeles Dodgers can get to .500 for the first time since April 24 while sending the host Pittsburgh Pirates to the even mark for the first time all season when the teams open a three-game series in the Steel City on Tuesday. The Dodgers swept three games at Colorado to begin their road trip and improve to 13-4 over an 17-game hot stretch.
They scored 33 runs against the Rockies - hammering three home runs in each game - while extending their road winning streak to seven straight. "This is always a good place to come and get the offense clicking," third baseman Justin Turner told reporters of the set at Coors Field. "Obviously, one of the best offensive parks to hit in the league. Guys did a good job all series staying in the zone, making their guys throw pitches and taking advantage of mistakes." The Pirates are trending in the other direction with 12 losses in their last 16, the latest a 5-0 shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals in which Pittsburgh did not get its first hit until the ninth inning. The series opener pits Ross Stripling of the Dodgers against Joe Musgrove in a matchup of two right-handers who have combined to allow 10 earned runs in 62 1/3 innings.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SportsNet LA (Los Angeles), AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh
PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers RH Ross Stripling (3-1, 1.68 ERA) vs. Pirates RH Joe Musgrove (2-0, 0.64)
Stripling is 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA in six starts overall and 3-0 with a 0.92 mark over his last three. He lasted a season-high seven innings and fanned nine in an 8-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday. The 28-year-old is 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA in three career matchups (one start) against the Pirates and will be making his first start in Pittsburgh.
Musgrove followed up a scoreless season debut May 25 against the Cardinals before limiting the Chicago Cubs to a run in seven stellar frames during a 2-1 win Wednesday. He worked around seven hits and four walks in that outing while bumping his pitch count to 100. The former first-round pick has never faced the Dodgers.
WALK-OFFS
1. Los Angeles 1B-3B Max Muncy homered twice in Sunday's win and has four long balls in his last seven games.
2. Pirates OF Austin Meadows had one of his team's two hits Sunday and is batting .392 through his first 15 games in the majors.
3. The Dodgers won six of seven meetings last year, including three of four in Pittsburgh.