TLDR: The Dodgers own the best record in baseball and are chasing history. The Red Sox just spent a week reminding everyone they're not done fighting for October. Something has to give at Dodger Stadium.
Ranger Suarez takes the ball for Boston looking to keep building on a strong first half in his new uniform, while Edgardo Henriquez gets the nod for Los Angeles carrying a 2.79 ERA that's made him one of the more reliable arms in that rotation mix. Suarez was sharp in his last outing against Toronto, working 4 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts and no walks, and he'll need more of that against a Dodgers lineup that doesn't have a lot of easy outs even with some notable names banged up.
Ranger Suarez
(4-3)·3.25 ERA
Jul 26 vs Blue Jays
ND
4.0IP
0ER
6K
0BB
64P
07/31 Lineup
Edgardo Henriquez
(4-1)·2.98 ERA
2026 · No starts yet
ND
—IP
—ER
—K
—BB
—P
07/31 Lineup
The Ohtani situation is the one worth watching before first pitch. He's been dealing with left knee soreness that's kept him off the mound and briefly out of the lineup, but he's set to return as the DH for this one, which matters plenty against a Red Sox staff missing a chunk of its rotation depth. Boston is already without Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Johan Oviedo and Kutter Crawford, all on the 60-day IL, so there isn't a ton of margin for this bullpen if the Dodgers get into it early.
Los Angeles has its own attrition to manage, with Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow both working back from the 60-day IL and catcher Will Smith still out, but the Dodgers have simply had enough of everything else to cover for it. First pitch is at 7:10 PM PT, and the way both bullpens are stretched right now, this has the look of a game that could get away from either starter in a hurry.
Boston's turnaround has been real. The Red Sox have won 4 of their last 5, capping a three-game set in Oakland with a 5-4 win, and they're doing it without Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Trevor Story and Triston Casas all sitting on the injured list. That's an absurd amount of talent to be missing from a lineup that's still finding ways to win low-scoring, grind-it-out games.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, are still the Dodgers. A 69-40 record speaks for itself, and even with Ohtani managing soreness and the rotation patched together, this roster has star power at every turn. Boston's late-season push has been fun to watch, but walking into Dodger Stadium against this group, at full strength or not, is still about as tough a task as exists in the sport right now.
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