Chad Billingsley on Sunday pitched eight scoreless innings against St. Louis. Ted Lilly on Monday pitched seven scoreless innings against Atlanta. Tonight, Hiroki Kuroda has a tough act to follow, as he faces the Braves in the second game of a four-game set at Dodger Stadium.
The last time the Dodgers had three straight starting pitchers throw seven or more scoreless innings was September 18-20, 2000, when Kevin Brown (7 IP), Chan Ho Park (8 IP), and Darren Dreifort (7 2/3 IP) shut down Arizona. The Dodgers swept that series and outscored the Diamondbacks by a grand total of 4-1 in three games.
That started a six-game run during which the Dodgers never scored more than two runs, yet they were 5-1because their pitching staff allowed a total of five runs in those six games. Dreifort added another seven scoreless innings on September 26 in another Dodger shutout win, but this time the offense scored nine runs.
Kuroda hasn't faced many of these Braves too many times. Dan Uggla is the only current Brave with more than nine plate appearances against Kuroda, and Uggla is 4-for-14 with a double. Uggla and Chipper Jones (2-for-6 with a double) are the only two Braves with more than one career hit against Kuroda. Current members of the Braves are hitting a collective .161/.235/.274 against Kuroda.
Starting for the Braves is 24-year old Brandon Beachy, making his seventh career start. In 32 1/3 career innings, Beachy has nine unintentional walks, 32 strikeouts, and a 4.18 ERA. However, Beachy is still in search of his first major league win, as he is 0-3 and the Braves are 1-5 in his six starts. Last year, Beachy was 5-1 with a 1.73 ERA in 119 1/3 innings split between Double A and Triple A, in 35 games, including 13 starts. He has never faced the Dodgers.
Game Time: 7:10 p.m.
TV: KCAL