Los Angeles Dodgers: Last game of the second half road trip

The Los Angeles Dodgers started the second half of the season with a seven-game road trip that is set to wrap up on Thursday in Philadelphia.

The Los Angeles Dodgers started the second half of the season at Fenway Park in a seven-game road trip that is set to wrap up on Thursday. Despite being on the East Coast, the Dodgers have done fairly well as well.

The team took two out of three at Fenway Park to open the second half before winning the first of four in Philly. The Phillies walked it off on Tuesday and at the time of writing this, the two teams are in a rain delay on Wednesday.

Typically, we wait until the games are over before writing the next day’s preview but this rain delay is pushing the game too far back and tomorrow I will actually be at the game in Philadelphia, so it has to be done.

There obviously won’t be any recap information in this article but we can look towards Thursday. On the mound for the Dodgers is Ross Stripling, who threw five one-run innings in Boston on Saturday in route to a blowout Dodger win.

The Phillies do have the advantage on the mound as Aaron Nola is set to take the bump. Although Nola had a slow start to the year, he currently has a 3.63 ERA on the year and has a 0.76 ERA over his last five starts.

The Dodger bats have some work to do against a red-hot Nola. As part of our Los Angeles Dodgers Beat the Streak series, here is who we think can provide a base hit in a game that hopefully can skate around the possible impending thunderstorms.

Jason’s pick (Current streak: 1): A.J. Pollock

My streak very well could be zero tomorrow if Justin Turner comes into the game and does not get a base hit. However, with him not starting the game, we are going to assume that he does not get a plate appearance and thus my streak remains at one.

In the series’ concluding game I am going with A.J. Pollock, who has been red-hot and has been producing runs at a high clip since returning from the IL.

Pollock has a .444 batting average since returning from the IL with eight RBIs. Based on trends, he is the smart choice to make.

But it does not stop there as Pollock also has a favorable 2-3 career matchup line against Nola. It is a minuscule sample size, but of all the minuscule sample sizes, Pollock’s is the most impressive.