Los Angeles @ Cincinnati preview
Great American Ball Park
Last Meeting ( Apr 22, 2010 ) LA Dodgers 5, Cincinnati 8
Who needs interleague play? Certainly not the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Two teams with playoff aspirations will fight it out when the Reds open a three-game series against the Dodgers on Tuesday.
The argument against interleague play that seems to hold the most weight is that teams are stuck battling against teams that will not be involved in their potential fight for the playoffs. The San Diego Padres, who lead Los Angeles by one game in the National League West, certainly won’t be fighting the Toronto Blue Jays for playoff positioning in September, for example.
But with 16 teams in the National League and 14 teams in the American League, two NL teams always get to play each other - and Cincinnati and Los Angeles certainly could be looking at each other’s record come the end of September should the Wild Card come down to the two clubs.
So instead of attempting to pad their win totals against the American League this week, the Dodgers and the Reds will be testing themselves against each other - with Los Angeles’ pitching staff attempting to shut down the most prolific offense in the league.
The Dodgers staff got beat up over the weekend against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, allowing 20 runs in three games - all losses. The sweep dropped them out of the NL West lead and exposed what has been a shaky staff so far this season. The Dodgers were forced to use six pitchers for at least an inning apiece in Sunday’s 6-5 loss after converted reliever Carlos Monasterios failed to get out of the third inning in the start.
While the back end of the rotation has been a question mark, so has the front, with Chad Billingsley struggling to find his form and Clayton Kershaw averaging over five walks per nine innings.
Hiroki Kuroda will get the start on Tuesday looking for his first win since May 18. The Japanese right-hander is coming off one of his best starts of the season, however, when he allowed four hits in seven scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals last week in a no decision.
Kuroda made a start against Cincinnati back on April 21, allowing six runs - three earned - and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He still secured the win, though, as the Dodgers went on to win, 14-6. He has made two career starts against the Reds, winning them both.
If he hopes to make it three, Kuroda will have to figure out a way to stop the dynamic duo of Scott Rolen and Joey Votto, who have both homered off Kuroda in their careers. Votto homered twice on Sunday in Cincinnati’s 7-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals, both off reigning Cy Young winner Zach Greinke.
The Reds will send veteran Aaron Harang to the mound on Tuesday. The right-hander has not lost since May 14 and has had three strong outings in a row, allowing a total of five runs in 18 innings to bring his bloated ERA down to 5.17.
He got hammered by Los Angeles back on April 21, allowing seven runs - six earned - and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings to suffer the loss.