Dodgers Vs. Pirates Preview: Haren Looks To Earn Rubber Game Victory
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After earning a 5-2 victory on Monday and suffering a 12-5 loss on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers will look to win the rubber game of the three-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday night at PNC Park.
The Dodgers will send Dan Haren to the mound. This season, Haren is 8-7 with a 4.30 ERA. The right-hander is looking to bounce back tonight as he has lost three straight starts all in the month of July. He has failed to pitch into the sixth inning in all of them. Haren is 3-2 with a 4.92 ERA in nine career starts against the Pirates.
Opposing Haren will be Francisco Liriano. Liriano is 1-7 with a 4.43 ERA this season. Despite having a poor win-loss record, Liriano’s only win came against Los Angeles this season as he pitched 5.2 innings giving up no runs on just five hits in a 2-1 victory on May 30 at Dodger Stadium. He recorded eight strikeouts and walked just two batters.
The Dodgers will be at a loss offensively as Yasiel Puig will miss his fourth straight game and Hanley Ramirez will miss his third straight game as both have hand/wrist injuries after being hit by pitches over the weekend in St. Louis.
Tonight’s Dodger lineup has combined for a career 6-for-30 with just two RBIs against Liriano. Both RBIs are credited to Carl Crawford.
The team has not played their best baseball of late posting just a 2-3 record since coming back from the All-Star break. Los Angeles enters tonight’s contest one game behind the San Francisco Giants for the lead in the NL West Standings. The Dodgers follow this game with a weekend series against the Giants on the road before returning to Chavez Ravine to face the Atlanta Braves.
Dodgers Lineup
2B: Gordon
RF: Kemp
1B: Gonzalez
CF: Van Slyke
3B: Uribe
LF: Crawford
SS: Rojas
C: Butera
P: Haren
Pirates Lineup
RF: Polanco
LF: Snider
CF: McCutchen
2B: Walker
C: Martin
1B: Davis
3B: Harrison
SS: Mercer
P: Liriano
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