World Series Game 7 pitching matchups

By Kevin Baxter

Staff Writer

Oct. 31, 2017 5:50 PM PT

Dodgers vs. Astros

World Series, Game 7

At Dodger Stadium, Wednesday

TV: Fox. Radio: ESPN Radio, AM 570, KTNQ 1020.

Starting pitchers

Dodgers: Yu Darvish

Astros: Lance McCullers Jr.

Darvish: 10-12, 3.86 earned-run average*

Darvish in playoffs: 2-1, 4.15 ERA

Darvish struggled with command of his fastball in his Game 3 start and the Astros teed off on his secondary pitches, pounding him for four runs and six hits in 1 2/3 innings. As a result, the Dodgers burned through their bullpen and the Series swung in Houston’s favor. Wednesday’s start will be Darvish’s first at home in more than a month, when he held San Diego to a run and two hits in seven innings. That was his only victory at Dodger Stadium this season.

Darvish on bouncing back from Game 3: “I can’t pay that much attention to what happened last time. Just focus on [Wednesday’s] outing and have a good game.”

Manager Dave Roberts on Darvish: “We have all the confidence in him for [Wednesday] night. And I know he’s looking to redeem himself and felt that obviously he wasn’t himself. So it’s our job to give him that opportunity.”

McCullers in regular season: 7-4, 4.25 ERA

McCullers in playoffs: 1-0, 2.95 ERA

With the Astros unsure whether McCullers would be needed out of the bullpen Tuesday, the right-hander had to wait until the conclusion of Game 6 to find out he would likely start Game 7. Like Darvish, he will be looking to erase a poor performance in Game 3, in which hegave up three runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. Unlike Darvish, McCullers came out of that game with a victory. McCullers was 5-0 with a 3.02 ERA at home this season, including the playoffs. He had a 4.89 ERA on the road. The Game 3 win was his only victory since the All-Star break.

McCullers on his approach: “I’m very confident in myself. Very confident in the game plan we all put together, and have a lot of faith in my defense, and especially [catcher] Brian McCann back there. Just makes it a lot easier on me to see him, and just focus on doing what I have to do to help the team win.”

Manager A.J. Hinch on picking a starter for Game 7 before Game 6 had been played: “All bets are off. You just try to win the game. You play to win the game [Tuesday]. If you complicate it and try to manage two games at once, you’ll find yourself having two games. And so if we need to use our guys to win the game, I’ll do it.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series