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Trevor Bauer finishes off what so far has been a perfect road trip for the Dodgers on Wednesday night in Houston, putting his perfect career record against the Astros on the line.
Nine times Bauer has started against the Astros, all with Cleveland from 2014-19. Nine times his team won. Bauer himself is 8-0 with a 2.90 ERA against the Astros, with 71 strikeouts and 24 walks in 59 innings. In the lone game he didn’t win, Bauer pitched into the eighth, struck out 13, and left with the lead. Cleveland eventually won anyway, 10-9.
At Minute Maid Park, Bauer has been even better, 4-0 with a 1.35 ERA, allowing four total runs in 26⅔ innings, the last coming in 2019.
Dodgers-Astros lineups
| Pos | Dodgers | Pos | Astros |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Dodgers | Pos | Astros |
| RF | Betts | 2B | Altuve |
| 2B | Muncy (L) | LF | Díaz |
| DH | Turner | 3B | Bregman |
| C | Smith | RF | Tucker (L) |
| SS | Lux | 1B | Gurriel |
| CF | Taylor | SS | Correa |
| 1B | Beaty (L) | DH | Jones |
| LF | Tsutsugo (L) | CF | Straw |
| 3B | Neuse | C | Maldonado |
The only other teams Bauer has beaten as often or more than Houston are the Tigers (11 wins) and White Sox (eight wins). He has started 21 and 19 times, respectively, against those teams, compared to just nine starts against the Astros.
Uniform minutiae
The Dodgers have worn “Los Angeles” road gray uniforms in the first four games of this road trip, keeping with a theme of sorts this season. In every game of the first road trip this year, in Colorado and Oakland, the Dodgers wore “Dodgers” unfiorms. Later in April, in San Diego and Seattle, it was back to “Los Angeles” jerseys, then “Dodgers” for all 10 games on the last trip.
So far this season, the Dodgers are 7-10 when wearing “Dodgers” uniforms, allowing 4.88 runs per game. When donning “Los Angeles” garb, they are 7-2 while allowing 2.89 runs per game.
Last year, including the postseason, the runs scored and runs allowed numbers were very similar in both uniforms, but they only wore “Los Angeles” uniforms on a single, five-game trip. They went 4-1. But they were also excellent in “Dodgers” road grays, going 23-9 (.719).
Dodgers director of clubhouse operations Alex Torres is in charge of picking the jerseys, and Dave Roberts insisted he isn’t superstitious one way or another.
“The last thing I’m worried about is uniforms and thinking a uniform has an impact on performance,” Roberts said a few weeks back. “I like process, plan, and preparation.”
Game info
Teams: Dodgers (30-18) at Astros (26-22)
Location: Minute Maid Park, Houston
Time: 4:40 p.m. PT
TV: SportsNet LA, ESPN (out of market)