Howie Kendrick gets day off, Yasiel Puig bats 5th for Dodgers vs. Cubs

Howie Kendrick gets a day off on Wednesday night, prompting a bit of a lineup shuffle for the Dodgers against the Cubs, including Yasiel Puig moved to the heart of the order, batting fifth in the third game of the series at Wrigley Field.

Kendrick is in a 9-for-46 (.196) slump with no extra-base hits in his last 11 games, and no RBI in his last 12 games despite batting anywhere from third to fifth in the order. During that RBI-less span Kendrick is 1-for-16 with five strikeouts with runners on base, and though his one hit came with a runner in scoring position was an infield single that didn't score a run.

Kiké Hernandez starts at second base in place of Kendrick, and bats leadoff on Wednesday night. Hernandez is up to six starts at second base this season, to go along with eight starts at shortstop, two starts in center field, two in left and one start in right field.

Puig since returning from the disabled list on June 6 is hitting .333/.391/.524 with eight extra-base hits in 16 games. He batted third in his first game back but since then has only batted second (nine starts) or first (six starts).

Puig and Justin Turner are both 1-for-3 against Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks. Yasmani Grandal is 0-for-2 with a walk against him, and Adrian Gonzalez walked in his only plate appearance against him.

Dexter Fowler is out of the lineup for the Cubs for a second straight day after spraining his ankle on Monday. Matt Szczur starts in center, with Chris Denorfia in right field.