Dodgers at Orioles
The Los Angeles Dodgers are on the verge of clinching the National League West as they get set for their final trip to the East Coast this season. The Dodgers can claim their seventh straight division title when they visit the lowly Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series.
Los Angeles trimmed its magic number to two with a 5-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, and that number was shaved to one the following day after the Arizona Diamondbacks dropped a 3-1 decision to the New York Mets. The Dodgers will travel to New York to face the Mets after finishing up with the Orioles before closing out the regular season with 11 straight games in the Pacific time zone. Baltimore, which is firmly in the American League East basement, lost five in a row and began its homestand by allowing the Texas Rangers 29 runs in a four-game sweep. The Orioles will try to keep Los Angeles from clinching with left-hander Ty Blach on the mound while Dodgers young star Walker Buehler toes the rubber on the other side.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SportsNet Los Angeles, MASN (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers RH Walker Buehler (12-3, 3.28 ERA) vs. Orioles LH Ty Blach (1-2, 10.95)
Buehler was bailed out by his offense against Colorado in his last outing and earned a win despite surrendering six runs and eight hits in five innings. The 25-year-old was given seven days of rest after that outing and is hoping to get back to the form he showed in his previous two turns, when he tossed a combined 13 scoreless innings against Toronto and San Diego. Buehler is seeing Baltimore for the first time and is 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA in five career interleague starts.
Blach is making his fifth start since being acquired by Baltimore and went 1-1 with a 9.82 ERA in his first four chances. The 28-year-old earned his first win in an Orioles uniform at Tampa Bay last Tuesday, when he allowed two runs on two hits and four walks in five innings. Blach faced Los Angeles as a member of the San Francisco Giants on April 30 and was lit up for seven runs on as many hits - two homers - in 3 1/3 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Dodgers 3B Justin Turner (ankle) sat out Sunday and is day-to-day.
2. Baltimore 3B Hanser Alberto recorded three hits Sunday to lift his batting average to .321.
3. Los Angeles 1B/OF Cody Bellinger is 3-for-17 without an extra-base hit in the last five games.