Many expected the Dodgers to be facing the Mariners in the World Series last season, but Seattle couldn’t close the deal against the Blue Jays. Now, a year later, they’re an inferior team, but one still fighting to enter the postseason. The M’s will go with the veteran Luis Castillo for the opening game of this series; potentially good news for a Dodgers offense that scored more than four runs only once in its last five games, making the pitching do the heavy lifting in the road trip’s last stop at Citi Field.
A symbol of stability for this young Mariners staff ever since his acquisition back at the deadline in 2022, Castillo has a 3-9 record this season, which is a direct indicator of career-low numbers almost across the board. Lately, though, Castillo has had problems keeping the ball in the yard, allowing five home runs in his last two outings, the losing pitcher of record in each of his three outings this month. Although that 4.85 ERA this season justifies a lousy record, it is also a byproduct of the Mariners’ complete inability to provide him any run support, scoring just 19 runs in his last eight starts.
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Back to the home runs and how they might come into play, the one Dodger to actually leave the yard against the Mets, Kyle Tucker, is also one of the two who has gone deep against Castillo before. The two home runs in Citi Field were encouraging, but even in this recent stretch, Tucker needs to show more to come close to the player the Dodgers thought they were getting. Hitting at home hasn’t been an enjoyable task for Tucker with a .607 OPS at Dodger Stadium.
One player who has definitely enjoyed performing at Dodger Stadium, though, is Justin Wrobleski. The Dodgers’ starter has managed to keep an ERA below 3.00 both at home and on the road, but his .461 OPS allowed in seven starts at home genuinely sounds made up. Monitoring how he does with an increased workload in the second half is a priority for the Dodgers.
Tuesday’s game info
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Teams: Dodgers vs. Mariners
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Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)
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