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Cody Bellinger gets a rare day off in Wednesday night’s series finale against the White Sox, his first game not starting since July 6.
Bellinger has played all 98 games since getting called up to the majors on April 25, including 95 starts. He started the last 31 games at first base, but on Wednesday he is sitting to open the game, with Rob Segedin starting at first.
Going for 6
Teams have had a devil of a time beating the Dodgers this season, and the last three games were all wins for Los Angeles thanks to the offense scoring six, six, and six runs.
The Dodgers have scored at least six runs in 54 games this season, second only to the Astros’ 57 such contests. When scoring six or more runs in 2017, the Dodgers are 51-3.
Those 54 games are already more than the Dodgers had in 2016, when they did so 49 times.
Starting lineups
| Pos | White Sox | Pos | Dodgers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | White Sox | Pos | Dodgers |
| CF | L.Garcia (S) | CF | Taylor |
| 3B | Sanchez (S) | SS | Seager (L) |
| 1B | Abreu | 3B | Turner |
| LF | Delmonico (L) | LF | Hernandez |
| RF | A.Garcia | 2B | Forsythe |
| 2B | Moncada (S) | C | Barnes |
| C | Narvaez | RF | Puig |
| SS | Anderson | 1B | Segedin |
| P | Rodon (L) | P | Darvish |
The franchise record for six-run games in a season is 77, set by the 1953 Brooklyn team (them, again!). Since moving to Los Angeles the most such games is 64, set in 2006. The way things are going, that could fall by the end of August.
On Wednesday, the Dodgers will try to reach six runs again versus the White Sox. They face Carlos Rodon, who allowed five runs against the Dodgers on July 19 in Chicago, a game won by the Dodgers, 9-1.
Rodon has only allowed nine home runs on the season, but four of those were hit by the Dodgers in that July 19 start.
With the lefty on the mound, the Dodgers have their usual weapons in the lineup. Kiké Hernandez starts in left field, hitting .254/.365/.605 against southpaws this season, with 20 extra-base hits — nine home runs, nine doubles, two triples — in just 132 plate appearances.
Chris Taylor is in center field, as he was on Friday against lefty Clayton Richard, presumably getting reps in at the position perhaps in preparation for when Adrian Gonzalez returns, and Bellinger sees more time in left field.
Austin Barnes starts at catcher — he has started 29 of the Dodgers’ 39 games against lefties this season, including seven of the last eight — hitting .266/.389/.544 with seven doubles and five home runs in 95 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers in 2017.
The Dodgers this season have had eight streaks of at least three games scoring six or more runs, topping out at seven consecutive games from June 17-23.