The Dodgers hope to harness whatever it was that allowed them to score 10 runs Tuesday night, as they battle the Pirates in the third game of a four-game series at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. Hiroki Kuroda gets the start for the Dodgers, his eighth of the season, hoping for some run support like the Dodgers showed Tuesday night. The Dodgers had scored 10 total runs in the first four games of their road trip before exploding for 10 runs last night.
Jamey Carroll is having a heck of a road trip for the Dodgers, with a trio of three-hit games in the last four days, and has 11 hits in 21 at-bats on the trip so far. Carroll, who has filled in at shortstop with Rafael Furcal on the disabled list with a broken thumb, is hitting .320/.383/.383 this season, and has been the Dodgers' third-best hitter this season behind Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp.
Kuroda is 3-1 with a 2.32 ERA in five career starts against the Pirates. This season, Kuroda is 3-3 with a 3.69 ERA, and is coming off a loss in his last start, Friday in New York against the Mets. Paul Maholm gets the start for the Pirates, is 1-4 with a 3.68 ERA for Pittsburgh this season. In his career against the Dodgers, Maholm is 0-4 with a 5.65 ERA in seven starts.
Reliever Scott Elbert is on his way from Triple A Albuquerque to Pittsburgh, presumably to take the place of reliever Blake Hawksworth, though the Dodgers have not made any official announcement. Hawksworth strained his groin while attempting to cover first base in the seventh inning Tuesday night. If Hawksworth is in fact placed on the disabled list, he would be the 11th Dodger to be placed on the DL this season.
Tonight's 4:05 p.m. PDT game will be televised on Prime Ticket. For more news and information on the Dodgers, or on tonight's game, be sure to read the SB Nation blog True Blue LA.