PIT
LADPittsburgh's wild-card hopes are hanging by a thread in L.A., and Sunday's finale puts them across from a Dodgers ace who's been nearly unhittable since coming off the injured list.
Blake Snell draws the ball for the series finale Sunday at 1:10 PM PT, and he's picked up right where he left off before elbow surgery sidelined him — two runs allowed across his last two starts combined. Pittsburgh hasn't announced a starter for this one, but whoever takes the mound is working from a rotation that's been patched together since Mitch Keller went down for the season.
The bigger complication for L.A. might be who's available behind Snell rather than who's on the mound in front of him. Andy Pages left Friday's opener after getting plunked in the hand by a 100-mph sinker and is considered day-to-day, and the bullpen has been running thin with Edwin Diaz, Blake Treinen, Ben Casparius, Brusdar Graterol and Jake Cousins all currently on the injured list. Pittsburgh isn't exactly whole either — Endy Rodriguez, Ryan O'Hearn and Konnor Griffin are all out, which hasn't made life easy on a lineup trying to scratch out runs against a first-place club.
None of that has slowed the Dodgers down lately. They're the better team by a wide margin this season, and Sunday is as much about Pittsburgh clawing for anything it can get as it is about Los Angeles protecting home turf before the calendar turns toward September.
