Pirates at Dodgers
Cody Bellinger is showing no signs of slowing down and will lead the Los Angeles Dodgers into the opener of a three-game series with the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday. The 23-year-old, who is batting .457 with seven home runs in 13 home games, had a double, a walk and a key sacrifice fly to help the Dodgers avoid a sweep with a 2-1 victory at the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
Bellinger is batting .426, easily the best mark in the majors, after going 7-for-13 with two homers and six RBIs over the final four contests of his team's seven-game road trip. The Pirates followed up a five-game winning streak with five consecutive losses, scoring a total of nine runs during the skid. They managed five hits - all singles - in Thursday's 5-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at home and they were outscored 30-7 in the four-game series. Pittsburgh aims to give a little more run support to veteran right-hander Chris Archer, who starts the series opener opposite Los Angeles southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh, Spectrum SportsNet LA (Los Angeles)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Chris Archer (1-1, 2.74 ERA) vs. Dodgers LH Hyun-Jin Ryu (2-1, 3.10)
Archer suffered his first loss of the year Sunday against San Francisco at home, allowing three runs in five innings. He struck out a season-low two in that outing after piling up 24 strikeouts in 18 innings over his first three starts. The two-time All-Star yielded one run in seven frames in his one prior appearance at Dodger Stadium in 2016.
Ryu returned from the injured list Saturday to face Milwaukee but walked away with a loss after allowing two runs - both on solo homers to reigning MVP Christian Yelich - in 5 2/3 innings. The 32-year-old Ryu is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA at home this year after going 5-2 with a 1.15 mark at Dodger Stadium in 2018. He has won all four of his previous starts against the Pirates while yielding seven runs in 25 1/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Pirates SS Cole Tucker had two of his team's five hits Thursday and has hit safely in five of six games since being called up from the minors.
2. Bellinger has 84 total bases, one shy of Chase Utley's 2008 MLB record for the most before the end of April.
3. Los Angeles won 11 of 13 meetings over the last two seasons.