The Dodgers will try to keep things moving in their favor in Game 4 on Tuesday by sending right-hander Ricky Nolasco to the mound against the Cardinals for his first ever postseason start. Both teams have submitted their lineups for the evening, so let's quickly analyze them.
Dodgers vs. Cardinals NLCS Game 4 starting lineups
Apparently David Freese’s leg injury isn’t as bad as first thought. He’s starting at third for the Cards.
Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports
David Freese had St. Louis fans worried when he left Game 3 with a calf injury, but he's right back in the lineup for Game 4. He's two spots down in the order from where he hit Monday, but just having him in there is a big step up from having to go with a left side of Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma. Descalso gets the start at short over Kozma for the first time this series:
Matt Carpenter, 2B
Carlos Beltran, RF
Matt Holliday, LF
Matt Adams, 1B
Yadier Molina, C
Jon Jay, CF
David Freese, 3B
Daniel Descalso, SS
Lance Lynn, SP
Los Angeles was able to best Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright with a slightly altered lineup Monday night. The order is much the same for Game 4, the only difference being that Yasiel Puig has moved up into the six hole. The Cuban phenom was dropped into the seven spot against Waino after a dreadful start to the series, but turned things around with a big two-hit game Monday.
Carl Crawford, LF
Mark Ellis, 2B
Hanley Ramirez, SS
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Andre Ethier, CF
Yasiel Puig, RF
Juan Uribe, 3B
A.J. Ellis, C
Ricky Nolasco, SP
As Eric Stephens of True Blue LA points out, the Cardinals have absolutely man-handled Nolasco in the past:
Cardinals vs. Nolasco (yikes): Beltran .340/.415/.404 in 53 PA, Holliday .462/.481/.885 (27 PA), Jay .538/.571/.615 (15 PA), Freese 6-for-12
— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) October 15, 2013
Batter vs. pitcher splits should always be viewed with a heavy dose of skepticism, but that probably doesn’t ease the worries of Dodgers fans.
First pitch is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET on TBS.
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