Dodgers-Rangers Shifts To Los Angeles With Kershaw On The Mound

After sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in the two games played at Globe Life Park in Arlington, the Texas Rangers look to continue their success with the teams now meeting at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday for the start of another quick two-game series.

Clayton Kershaw takes the mound to face his hometown Rangers for the first time in his career. The Dallas-born Dodger attended Highland Park High School before becoming a professional pitcher and evolving into one of the best arms in baseball.

Despite a somewhat rough start to the season for Kershaw’s standards, the last four starts have been reminiscent of the dominance he is known for. Kershaw has gone 3-0 and lowered his ERA from 4.32 to 3.21; the Dodgers also won the game he walked away with a no-decision in.

In his 20 prior Interleague starts, Kershaw has gone 8-2 with a 2.55 ERA. Opposing the Dodgers’ ace is Wandy Rodriguez, who is in his first season with the Rangers. On the year, Rodriguez holds a 3-2 record and 3.03 ERA through 10 starts. His last outing came against the Minnesota Twins and he threw 6.2 innings while allowing one earned run on three hits.

Wednesday will be the 14th time Rodriguez faces the Dodgers through 11 years in the Majors. He previously saw them as a starter with the Houston Astros (when they were still in the NL Central) and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Rodriguez has made a total of 12 starts against Los Angeles, going 5-5 with a 2.64 ERA.

With the left-handed Rodriguez on the mound, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly elected to again get his right-handed bats into the lineup by starting Chris Heisey in center field and Scott Van Slyke in left. Van Slyke was reinstated from the disabled list Wednesday; the Dodgers’ corresponding move was placing Chris Hatcher on the DL with an oblique strain.

Heisey has made 31 total plate appearances on the year and is hitting just .167. However, he has also drawn seven walks for a .355 on-base percentage. Van Syke comes in with a .264 batting average and has driven in 14 runs. A.J. Ellis is again behind the plate to catch Kershaw.

With Pederson sitting, Yasiel Puig bats leadoff for the first time this season. Puig is a lifetime .301/.386/.527 with eight home runs and 22 RBIs in 39 games (38 starts) as the leadoff hitter.

Dodgers Lineup:

RF: Yasiel Puig

CF: Chris Heisey

1B: Adrian Gonzalez

2B: Howie Kendrick

3B: Justin Turner

LF: Scott Van Slyke

SS: Kiké Hernandez

C: A.J. Ellis

P: Clayton Kershaw

Rangers Lineup

RF: Shin-Soo Choo

SS: Elvis Andrus

LF: Joey Gallo

1B: Prince Fielder

3B: Adam Rosales

2B: Rougned Odor

C: Carlos Corporan

CF: Leonys Martin

P: Wandy Rodriguez

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