Nelson Counters Greinke in Series Opener

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The Dodgers return home from a very successful 6-3 road trip to open up a nine game home stand. They’ll kick that off with a three game series against the NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers. The Dodgers played three games at Miller Park on the road trip, and lost two out of three to the Brew Crew.

Tonight the Dodgers will give the ball to Zack Greinke, who is looking to snap his winless streak against his former teams. It seems like Greinke has issues beating his former clubs. If you remember he lost to Kansas City back on June 23. And he is now winless in seven starts against the Brewers. This includes a 4-1 loss back on August 9 at Miller Park.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Dodgers Lineup vs. Milwaukee

Gordon 2B

Puig CF

Gonzalez 1B

Kemp RF

Crawford LF

Uribe 3B

Ellis C

Rojas SS

Greinke P

Jimmy Nelson-2-3 vs. Zack Greinke-12-8

It raises the questions about his former club possibly knowing what he throws. I mean after all, some of those guys that he played with are still with the Brewers. Not to mention Greinke has been struggling a bit. He’s lost four of his last six decisions, which includes losses to the Angels and Brewers in which he allowed five runs, and four runs respectively. Since June 1, Greinke has won just four out of eleven decisions.

Still Greinke is one of the best pitchers in all of Baseball. I don’t worry about Greinke very often. All total Greinke is 12-8 with a 2.84 ERA in 24 starts. Greinke has 164 whiffs against just 30 walks, for nearly as 6-1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Greinke has a 6.75 ERA against the Brewers. However Greinke is usually dynamite at Dodger Stadium. The feathered right hander is 15-4 with a 2.31 ERA lifetime at Chavez Ravine.

NamePAABH2B3BHRRBIBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSSHSFIBBHBPGDP
Lyle Overbay27269103816.346.370.7311.10100000
Gerardo Parra27268000014.308.333.308.64100001
Aramis Ramirez15144000114.286.333.286.61900000
Carlos Gomez12113101415.273.333.636.97000000
Mark Reynolds1091001215.111.200.444.64400000
Ryan Braun751000120.200.429.200.62900001
Jonathan Lucroy665000100.833.833.8331.66700000
Jean Segura551010001.200.200.600.80000000
Khris Davis331001201.333.3331.3331.66700000
Mike Fiers320000002.000.000.000.00010000
Scooter Gennett331000000.333.333.333.66700001
Elian Herrera321000010.500.667.5001.16700000
Yovani Gallardo10000000010000
Rickie Weeks110000001.000.000.000.00000000
Total1231133521619829.310.355.504.86020003

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

As you can see, the Brewers are batting .310 (35 for 113) with six home runs against Greinke. For some unknown reason Lyle Overbay gives him a lot of trouble. Overbay is hitting .346 (9 for 26) with three home runs against Greinke. Carlos Gomez, Mark Reynolds, and Khris Davis have all gone deep off of Greinke in the past.  Milwaukee will counter with rookie right hander Jimmy Nelson. We saw the 25-year old Klamath Falls native in the series at Miller Park on the last road trip. Nelson took the loss to the Dodgers back on August 10, when he gave up just two earned runs on eight hits over six frames. Nelson has made just six starts this season. He is 2-3 with a 4.00 ERA, and 30 whiffs in 36 innings pitched.

NamePAABH2B3BHRRBIBBSOBAOBPSLGOPSSHSFIBBHBPGDP
Carl Crawford331000000.333.333.333.66700000
A.J. Ellis330000001.000.000.000.00000000
Andre Ethier331000000.333.333.333.66700000
Adrian Gonzalez321100101.500.3331.0001.33301000
Dee Gordon330000000.000.000.000.00000000
Matt Kemp332000100.667.667.6671.33300000
Clayton Kershaw310000010.000.667.000.66700010
Miguel Rojas332000000.667.667.6671.33300000
Juan Uribe331000001.333.333.333.66700001
Darwin Barney220000000.000.000.000.00000000
Total29268100213.308.345.346.69101011

The Dodgers are awaiting word on Hyun-jin Ryu’s strained glute. The club is supposed to be giving him an MRI as he goes to visit the doctor. Hopefully it’s nothing serious. The Dodgers feel he may miss a start, but otherwise it should not land him on the DL. We’ll keep you informed. Needless to say this is a big pain in the butt for the Dodgers. No pun intended. Ok ok, pun intended.

Currently the Dodgers have the best record in the National League at 70-53. They have a 5.5 game lead over the Giants in the NL West. The Giants are at home tonight playing Philadelphia.

The Dodgers will also be unveiling a new culinary delight this weekend with the Brewers in town. A bratwurst with sauerkraut and brown mustard.

Let’s hope this weekend set goes down smooth and easy. Otherwise I may have to reach for my Mylanta.

Game Time – 7:10 PM

Go Blue!