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The Dodgers will go for the doubleheader sweep in Saturday’s nightcap against the Giants, and will do so with Alex Verdugo in the starting lineup.
Verdugo was recalled in between games with the Dodgers going back to an eight-man bullpen by sending Scott Alexander to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Verdugo starts in right field in the nightcap in a lineup that doesn’t feature Matt Kemp despite manager Dave Roberts saying after Game 1 that Kemp would start.
Kemp left Friday’s game early with left quad tightness and didn’t start the day game on Saturday, but did have a single as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. Yasiel Puig, who fouled a ball off his foot in Game 1 and went to get X-rays, is out for Game 2.
Verdugo was off to a hot start in Oklahoma City with four home runs, after hitting six in Triple-A all of last season. He was hitting .276/.309/.474 in 19 games.
Alexander has struggled with command all year, and has more walks (nine) than strikeouts (seven) in his 11 appearances, with a 6.35 ERA in 11⅓ innings.
Though Alexander was sent down, the bullpen might gain an arm that was unavailable in Game 1:
#Dodgers Tony Cingrani was unavailable for Game 1. Played catch just now said his 'dead arm' feels fine.
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) April 29, 2018
Sounds like Tony Cingrani will be available for game 2.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughTimes) April 29, 2018
Mound matchup
Alex Wood since the start of last season has made four starts against the Giants. Two have been excellent, allowing just one hit in a scoreless outing, including eight shutout innings in a no-decision on March 30 at Dodger Stadium. The other two starts saw Wood allow five and four runs, and because baseball is weird the Dodgers won both of those games and lost his two scoreless starts.
Game 2 lineups
| Pos | Dodgers | Pos | Giants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Dodgers | Pos | Giants |
| CF | Taylor | LF | Hernandez |
| SS | Seager (L) | RF | McCutchen |
| C | Grandal (S) | C | Posey |
| 1B | Bellinger (L) | 3B | Longoria |
| 2B | Utley (L) | 1B | Belt (L) |
| LF | Pederson (L) | 2B | Tomlinson |
| RF | Verdugo (L) | SS | Crawford (L) |
| 3B | Farmer | CF | Jackson |
| P | Wood | P | Cueto |
The Dodgers this season have scored seven total runs with Wood in the game during his five starts.
Johnny Cueto, like Wood, also pitched scoreless baseball on March 30, allowing just one hit. He has also held his foes scoreless in each of his last two starts as well, taking a 13-inning scoreless streak into Saturday night’s start.
Cueto has allowed all of one run in his four starts — Seattle strung together a couple hits and a walk in the sixth inning on Apr. 4 — and he brings a league-best 0.35 ERA into the nightcap.
Since joining the Giants in 2016 Cueto has permitted the Dodgers two or fewer runs in half of his 10 starts, posing a 3.44 ERA in those games with 64 strikeouts and 15 walks in 65⅓ innings.
Giants move
Between game the Giants made a bullpen swap, adding left-hander D.J. Snelten, and optioning Roberto Gomez to Triple-A Sacramento. Gomez threw 73 pitches in relief in Game 1 of the doubleheader.
Game 2 info
Time: 7:05 p.m. PT
TV: SportsNet LA, KTLA