SAN DIEGO — First baseman Freddie Freeman was scratched from Game 4 as the Los Angeles Dodgers try to avoid elimination in their National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres.
Freeman, who left Game 2 after five innings due to discomfort in his sprained right ankle, was back in the lineup for Game 3. He was lifted for a pinch-runner after limping to first on an eighth-inning single.
Reliever Ryan Brasier will start for the Dodgers on Wednesday night, with manager Dave Roberts saying Tuesday that the team would go with a bullpen game.
Brasier was announced as the starter about four hours before first pitch at Petco Park on Wednesday. The right-hander pitched in relief in Games 1 and 2 at Dodger Stadium, earning the win in a 7-5 victory in the series opener.
He was 1-0 with a 3.54 ERA in 29 games in the regular season, including four starts.
The Padres took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series with a 6-5 win Tuesday night highlighted by Fernando Tatis Jr.’s towering two-run homer, his fourth this postseason.
The Padres are turning to right-hander Dylan Cease to start on short rest. Cease started Game 1 on Saturday night and lasted just 3⅓ innings while giving up five runs and didn’t factor in the decision.
Cease gave up Shohei Ohtani‘s tying three-run homer in the second inning in the slugger’s highly anticipated playoff debut for the Dodgers. Ohtani is 2-for-11 with six strikeouts since that home run.
Cease was 14-11 with a 3.74 ERA in the regular season. He threw his first no-hitter on July 25 in a 3-0 win at Washington. He was obtained in a multiplayer trade with the Chicago White Sox during spring training.
Padres manager Mike Shildt said Yu Darvish would start Game 5 if the Dodgers extend the series. If the Padres win Wednesday night, Darvish would start Game 1 of the NL Championship Series on Sunday.
“We’d love to name Yu the Game 1 starter,” Shildt said.
The Dodgers swept the Padres in the NLDS in the Texas playoff bubble in 2020. The Padres beat the Dodgers 3-1 in the 2022 NLDS.