Bryan Reynolds, Pirates set to open series against Dodgers – News Block

With outfielder Bryan Reynolds back in the fold, the pittsburgh pirates will hit the road this week in an attempt to find some of the form he showed in his most recent stay-at-home

Reynolds returned Sunday from a season on the disabled list with lower back inflammation and went 0 for 4 in a 6-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. It was Pittsburgh’s second straight loss after opening a six-game home skid with four straight wins.

Now him pirates heads to Los Angeles to open a four-game series against the dodgers on Monday night before closing out the first half of the season with a visit to the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks

He pirates won two of the three home games they played against the dodgers from April 25 to 27. In the two wins, Reynolds combined to record three hits with two RBIs, as he was in the midst of a streak when he recorded one RBI in six consecutive games played.

In the April 27 victory that gave the series victory over the dodgers, Pittsburgh right-hander Mitch Keller matched a career high with 10 strikeouts to earn the win. Three starts later, he set a career high with 13 strikeouts against the Baltimore Orioles.

Keller (9-3, 3.34 ERA), who was named a National League All-Star on Sunday, is scheduled to start the series opener on Monday. In three career starts of his against the dodgershe is 2-1 with a 5.27 ERA and has 18 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings

“A lot of hard work, a lot of people supporting me along the way: family, coaches, teammates, probably a lot of people I miss,” Keller said of his All-Star nomination, according to the Pittsburgh Post. Gazette. “Just all the last two years. It’s really cool. Really cool timing.”

He dodgers they are undecided on their headline for Monday. Left-hander Clayton Kershaw (10-4, 2.55 ERA), himself a National League All-Star, is in line to take the mound but has been dealing with shoulder discomfort. Rookie right-hander Michael Grove (0-2, 7.54) will be available as a potential replacement Monday if Kershaw goes on the disabled list.

He dodgers will unleash a series of All-Stars in the pirates even if Kershaw doesn’t take the mound, as Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, JD Martinez and Will Smith were all honored. But dodgers I haven’t been playing as a team with as many top players

Los Angeles will return home after back-to-back losses to the lowly Kansas City Royals, who won their first series since mid-May. He dodgers went 3-3 on a trip to face a pair of last-place clubs in the Colorado Rockies and Royals

dodgers pitchers have allowed a combined 15 runs in the last two games in Kansas City as starters Julio Urias and Tony Gonsolin combined to pitch just 6 2/3 innings. A taxed bullpen only adds to the speculation that Kershaw will go on the disabled list and not risk a short start on Monday.

“Those guys just outclassed us,” dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the Royals, who are next to last in baseball with 319 runs scored. “It’s a different brand of baseball, as far as putting the ball in play, hitting behind runners, stealing bases. They were great at situational hitting. To be honest, we couldn’t keep up. That’s how they beat us.

–Field level media