{"id":60988,"date":"2023-08-23T11:08:14","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T15:08:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=60988"},"modified":"2023-08-23T11:08:14","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T15:08:14","slug":"dodgers-vs-guardians-battle-in-cleveland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/23\/dodgers-vs-guardians-battle-in-cleveland\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers vs Guardians: Battle in Cleveland"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In what promises to be a thrilling matchup, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/19\/four-prospects-help-dodgers\/\" target=\"_self\">Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> (76-48) will face off against the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/18\/a-battle-of-al-central-rivals-cleveland-guardians-vs-detroit-tigers\/\" target=\"_self\">Cleveland Guardians<\/a> (60-66) at Progressive Field. Both teams have been performing exceptionally well this season, with the Dodgers leading the National League West and the Guardians making waves in the American League Central. The game is scheduled for 7:10 PM ET on August 23rd and will be broadcast on BSGL.<\/p>\n<p>[pickup_prop id=&#8221;34496&#8243;]<\/p>\n<h2>Dodgers vs Guardians: Battle in Cleveland<\/h2>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>Starting Pitchers:<\/strong> The Dodgers will send their ace, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kershcl01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Clayton Kershaw<\/a> (11-4, 2.48 ERA), to the mound. Kershaw has been dominant this season and will look to continue his impressive form. The Guardians will counter with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryxz01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Xzavion Curry<\/a> (3-1, 3.24 ERA), a promising young pitcher who has been solid in his limited appearances.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>Clash of Offenses:<\/strong> Both teams boast formidable lineups filled with talented hitters. The Dodgers have been led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/freemfr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Freddie Freeman<\/a> (.332 batting average) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bettsmo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mookie Betts<\/a> (.300 batting average, 34 home runs), who have been consistently producing at the plate. The Guardians, on the other hand, have the likes of Jos\u00e9 Ram\u00edrez (.280 batting average)\u00a0leading their offensive charge.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>Playoff Implications:<\/strong> While the Dodgers have already secured their spot in the postseason, the Guardians are still fighting for a playoff berth. Every game counts for the Guardians, and a victory against a strong team like the Dodgers would provide a significant boost to their playoff aspirations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; <strong>The Battle on the Mound:<\/strong> Keep an eye on the matchup between the Dodgers&#8217; left-handed relievers and the Guardians&#8217; left-handed hitters. The recent struggles of top Dodgers lefty <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/ferguca01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caleb Ferguson<\/a> have raised questions about the team&#8217;s bullpen options. On the other side, the Guardians will look to exploit any weaknesses in the Dodgers&#8217; bullpen with their talented left-handed batters.<\/p>\n<h3>Injuries:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>Cleveland Guardians:<\/strong> RP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=kellymi03,kelly-018mic&amp;search=Michael+Kelly&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Kelly<\/a> (Back, D10), SP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/biebesh01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shane Bieber<\/a> (Elbow, D60), SP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/q\/quantca01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cal Quantrill<\/a> (Shoulder, D15), SP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mckentr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Triston McKenzie<\/a> (Elbow, D60), C <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gallaca01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cam Gallagher<\/a> (Concussion, D7), 1B <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/fryda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">David Fry<\/a> (Hamstring, D10), 1B <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/n\/naylojo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Naylor<\/a> (Side, D10)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Los Angeles Dodgers:<\/strong> SS <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/luxga01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gavin Lux<\/a> (Knee, D60), RP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/feyerjo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.P. Feyereisen<\/a> (Shoulder, D60), RP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/almonye01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Yency Almonte<\/a> (Knee, D15), SP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/grovemi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Grove<\/a> (Lat, D15), SP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gonsoto01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tony Gonsolin<\/a> (Forearm, D15), RP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/n\/nelsoji02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jimmy Nelson<\/a> (Elbow, D60), RP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/t\/treinbl01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Blake Treinen<\/a> (Shoulder, D60), RP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=kellyjo05,kellyjo04,kellyjo03,kelly-008joe&amp;search=Joe+Kelly&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Kelly<\/a> (Forearm, D15), DH <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/martijd02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.D. Martinez<\/a> (Groin, D10), SP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/maydu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dustin May<\/a> (Forearm, D60), CF <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/marisja01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jake Marisnick<\/a> (Hamstring, D60), LF <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/delucjo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonny Deluca<\/a> (Hamstring, D10), SP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/buehlwa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Walker Buehler<\/a> (Elbow, D60), RP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hudsoda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daniel Hudson<\/a> (Knee, D60), RP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/millesh01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shelby Miller<\/a> (Neck, D60), RP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=reyesal02,reyes-001ale&amp;search=Alex+Reyes&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alex Reyes<\/a> (Shoulder, D60), RP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cyrty01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-08-23_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Cyr<\/a> (Shoulder, D60)<\/p>\n<p>Main photo credits:<\/p>\n<p>Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In what promises to be a thrilling matchup, the Los Angeles Dodgers (76-48) will face off against the Cleveland Guardians (60-66) at Progressive Field. Both teams have been performing exceptionally well this season, with the Dodgers leading the National League West and the Guardians making waves in the American League Central. The game is scheduled [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4389,"featured_media":60989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,33],"tags":[3351,97,206,596,4144,250,2094,2056,3452,2265],"class_list":["post-60988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guardians","category-dodgers","tag-caleb-ferguson","tag-clayton-kershaw","tag-freddie-freeman","tag-jose-ramirez","tag-josh-naylor","tag-mookie-betts","tag-shane-bieber","tag-tony-gonsolin","tag-triston-mckenzie","tag-walker-buehler"],"modified_by":"Troy Brock","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4389"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}