The Los Angeles Dodgers look to conclude a road trip with another win when they square off against the hapless Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon in Arlington, Texas, in the final game of a three-game interleague series between the two teams.
The Dodgers beat Texas 7-4 on Saturday behind home runs from Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy and a solid performance from their relief corps, bouncing back from a rare loss on Friday.
Los Angeles has captured three of its first five games on this trip to San Francisco and Texas and carries the best record in the majors (25-10) into Sunday's game.
Infielder Justin Turner was not in the lineup on Saturday after suffering "a low-grade strain" of the left hamstring while stealing second base in Los Angeles' loss Friday.
With Turner expected to be out until at least Tuesday, the Dodgers recalled infielder Gavin Lux on Saturday, and promptly penciled him into the lineup against Rangers ace Lance Lynn. Lux, Los Angeles' top prospect, will play second base against right-handed pitching, with Chris Taylor set to man second and hit against lefties.
Lux has been on the taxi squad for this trip, getting a call-up on Thursday and going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against the Giants. He went 0-for-4 with a strikeout on Saturday.
"Gavin, to his credit, put the work in at the secondary site, cleaned up the swing, has taken a lot of at-bats and feels in sync," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told mlb.com. "Right now, the plan is to play him against right-handed pitching. We see him as an every-day guy going forward, but we've got good players as well."
Saturday's loss was the 11th in 13 games for Texas, who have fallen nine games behind front-runner Oakland in the AL West standings.
The Rangers are likely to activate shortstop Elvis Andrus off the injured list on Tuesday when they open a three-game series with the Astros in Houston. Andrus has been sidelined with a strained lower back.
"Elvis' workouts have been actually really good -- he's been doing everything," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said before Saturday's game. "I'm hoping we can activate him after Sunday's game or at some point really soon. He feels really pretty much 100 percent right now."
Texas second baseman Rougned Odor missed his fourth straight game on Saturday with a right eye infection. Odor, who's battling .150 in 22 games and 80 at-bats, could end up on the injured list.
Right-hander Tony Gonsolin (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 12 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings) will be recalled from the taxi squad to get the start for the Dodgers in the series finale. Gonsolin has been nearly untouchable in three fill-in starts so far, allowing just six hits in his trio of appearances.
The Rangers will counter with right-hander Kyle Gibson (1-3, 5.73 ERA, 26 strikeouts in 33 innings). Gibson is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in his three starts against National League teams this season and 5-11 with a 5.41 ERA in 22 career interleague starts. He is making his first start against the Dodgers since 2014.
--Field Level Media
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