Nick Pivetta makes his second start since returning from Triple-A on Sunday
The Phillies (33-25) match-up with Dodgers (40-19) wasn’t extremely favorable from the get-go. Starting pitching was on the side of the Dodgers and their lineup has enough lefties in it to give the Phillies pitching staff plenty issues. After losing game one of the series, 6-3, on Friday, the Phils had an opportunity to steal a game on Saturday, but Hector Neris couldn’t hold the tie in the 9th and the Dodgers walked-off courtesy of a Will Smith home run.
Philadelphia’s experiment to use an opener instead of a starting pitcher wasn’t a complete failure with Jose Alverez pitching the first two innings of the game followed by five others. Bryce Harper hit a two-run home run to tie things in the 8th before Neris gave up the game-winner.
On Sunday afternoon, the Phillies will look to salvage one game of the series behind Nick Pivetta, who makes his second start since returning from Triple-A. Pivetta ended up winning his last start, a five-inning, three-run effort, but he tossed 106 pitches in those five frames and had trouble locating his fastball. His curve looked as good as it has all season, but Pivetta has yet to put up consistent starts. That will be a very tough challenge against the Dodgers. Nick has failed to go beyond five innings in each of his five starts this season with the Phillies.
The Braves won on Saturday, so the Phillies’ lead in the NL East is down to two games heading into Sunday’s action.
Nick Pivetta (3-1, 7.71 ERA) vs. Rich Hill (1-1, 2.73 ERA)
Pivetta is 1-1 with a 3.27 career ERA against the Dodgers, with both starts coming during the 2017 season. Nick’s Major League debut came against Los Angeles, hurling five innings of two-run ball.
Veteran Rich Hill has pitched in seven games against the Phillies in his career, with four of those outings being starts. He’s 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA in 24 innings.
Over the last seven days, Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper is hitting .435 with five doubles, two home runs, nine RBIs and four runs scored.
Only four players on the Phillies current roster have faced Rich Hill before. Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, Jean Segura and Sean Rodriguez are a combined 5-for-23 against the left-hander.
Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner is 3-for-6 with a double and a home run in his career against Phillies right-hander Nick Pivetta.
Dating back to May 6, the Dodgers are 19-5. They have won 11 of their last 14 games.
Dodgers starter Rich Hill tossed a season-high 106 pitches in his last game against the Mets and has a 1.50 ERA over the last three games.
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