Devastated by injuries this season, particularly to their pitching staff, the Los Angeles Dodgers will use the final eight games of the regular season to line up a starting rotation for the postseason.
Perhaps if they continue to get home runs from Shohei Ohtani, as they did again Friday for the MVP candidate’s 52nd of the season, maybe the pitching issues will be less of a concern. Ohtani now is one off the major league home-run lead of the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge.
Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler is set to take the mound Saturday night in the middle game of a three-game series against the visiting Colorado Rockies.
Buehler (1-5, 5.54 ERA) knows the injury situation well, missing nearly two full years following elbow surgery before he returned in May. But he has been nowhere near the form that led him to staff-ace levels earlier in his career.
Yet the Dodgers (92-62), who already have clinched at least a wild-card spot, are in such need for pitching that even Buehler hasn’t been ruled out for a playoff opportunity. He will have two more starts to show if he can deliver when it counts for a staff that won’t have Tyler Glasnow (elbow) in the playoffs and probably will be without Gavin Stone (shoulder).
Clayton Kershaw (toe) is working his way back into the fold.
“It’s quite the achievement,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of making the playoffs with so many pitching injuries. “We’ve never ran from it or made excuses. It’s been a challenging year. I do believe that after it’s all said and done, it’s going to make it that much sweeter.
“To get the invitation to the postseason, it’s not a rite of passage. … It takes a lot of work, and we overcame a lot this year.”
In 22 career appearances (18 starts) against the Rockies, Buehler is 7-3 with a 4.61 ERA.
Andy Pages and Teoscar Hernandez also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who rallied for a 6-4 victory over the Rockies on Friday to remain four games up on the San Diego Padres in the National League West, with a magic number of five.
Hernandez reached 30 homers for the second time in his career.
Colorado (59-95) will send right-hander Cal Quantrill (8-10, 4.68 ERA) to the mound on Saturday. Quantrill returned from right triceps inflammation Sunday and walked a career high six batters in a 6-2 loss against the Chicago Cubs in just 2 1/3 innings. He gave up two runs on four hits.
“I thought I was making adjustments, but watching the video, it didn’t look like I was changing what was causing the issue,” Quantrill said. “… I just need to get back on the right train and have a good week throwing.”
In six career appearances (five starts) against the Dodgers, Quantrill is 1-5 with a 7.43 ERA. In two starts against them this season, he is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA.
The Rockies received home runs from Charlie Blackmon, Sam Hilliard and Michael Toglia in Friday’s defeat.
Colorado will face Los Angeles five more times over its final eight games and needs four victories to avoid its second consecutive 100-loss season under manager Bud Black.
