Dodgers look to continue success against right-handers

The Dodgers have hit right-handed pitching well all year long and have have been especially successful through the heart of the order. The club will look to continue that trend when they face Cubs' righty Jason Hammel Saturday afternoon.

Since Clayton Kershaw lasted pitched on June 26, the Dodgers are 7-7 against left-handed starters and 23-14 against right-handers.

Not surprisingly, Corey Seager leads the barrage on righties with a .952 OPS, 17 homers and a 156 wRC+ in 2016. Overall Seager is hitting .384/.427/.589 in the second half of the season, pacing an offense that is leading baseball after the All-Star break.

Adrian Gonzalez has also been key to blazing hot offense as the big lefty has slugged seven homers in his last 18 starts and has a .912 OPS in the second half. Gonzalez raised his season OPS 118 points since the end of June when he took two straight days off in Pittsburgh to clear his mind. Gonzalez is .312 with 14 homers and 63 RBI vs righties this year.

What ailed the Dodgers on offense early on in the season was the lack of production --mainly power related-- from Gonzalez and Justin Turner. The pair have combined for 20 homers and 61 RBI since the break and are top 10 in each category for the National League.

Turner has better numbers against righties than he does against lefties, hitting .301 with 19 homers.

The Dodgers as a team are hitting .260/.328/.436 against righties this season, their .764 OPS is fourth in National League.  And their 125 home runs against right-handed pitching is second to the Cardinals.

Hammel (13-6, 3.07) has been good for the Cubs this season and has limited opponents to two runs or less in eight of his past 10 starts. However, Hammel gave up 10 runs in the other two starts which both came on the road. Those two misfires have led to a 5-5 record and 4.41 on the road for the big right-hander.

Hammel is 0-4 with a 4.91 ERA in 8 games (5 Starts) at Dodger Stadium in his career.

The Dodgers will send Julio Urias to the mound for his 12th career start. After giving up 8 runs over 7.2 IP in his first two starts, the 20-year-old has allowed only 14 earned runs in nine starts since and has won his last three decisions.

Game info

Time: 1:05 P.M. PT

TV: SportsNet LA, FS1