Kyle

Tucker

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is shaking things up by moving Freddie Freeman up to the second spot in the order with Andy Pages following and Tucker in the cleanup spot. Max Muncy and Mookie Betts remain in the middle of the lineup with Teoscar Hernández on the bench.

It appears to be a matchup-based decision with lefty Noah Cameron on the hill for Kansas City. Tucker has shown some real signs of life recently, hitting .298 (14-for-47) with four homers and one steal over his last 15 games. It’ll be Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernández in the outfield corners for Los Angeles in this one.

It looked like Tucker was going to have the go-ahead homer, as it gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead late in the contest. Edwin Diaz didn’t allow that to happen with another blown save, but it does come in a victory, and it does give Tucker 11 homers on the season.

Tucker was able to silence his boos for just a moment with an opposite-field homer off Javier Assad to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. That would be the last run of the game for Los Angeles, as they’ve now lost five straight and weren’t able to pick up a win in Tarik Skubal’s debut. Tucker also singled to improve his slash to a still-disappointing .243/.341/.381 in his first year with Los Angeles.

Tucker homered off Nolan McLean in the third and made a bid for another in the fourth, hitting a 361-foot fly that was caught in left field. Both were barrels, so he now has 19 of them and nine homers for the season. He still hasn’t gotten hot at any point, but that his strikeout rate is down this month can’t be bad news; he’s fanned just eight times in 69 plate appearances while hitting .250/.333/.383 in July.

Whatever is the opposite of buyer’s remorse could probably define Tucker’s feelings as he visited Citi Field for the first time since considering signing with the Mets this past winter. His Dodgers had a very clean and easy win here aided by Tucker’s eighth inning blast that added some valuable insurance for them. It was his first home run since all the way back on June 27th as he desperately tries to pull himself out of his season-long slump.

Max Muncy is also taking a seat with Phillies ace Cristopher Sánchez toeing the rubber for his second-half debut. It’s been a rocky opening season for Tucker in Los Angeles as he’s struggled to a lackluster .240/.335/.367 slash line with seven homers and six RBI across 394 plate appearances in 94 games. It’ll be a red-hot Tommy Edman at the hot corner and batting third with Alex Call getting a look in right field.

Tucker will get a day off against left-hander J.P. Sears, as will third baseman Max Muncy. Miguel Rojas is playing third base in Muncy’s absence, while Alex Call will handle right field with Tucker out.

All of Tucker’s hits came on liners to the outfield, two hard and two soft. He’s up to .249 with a .352 OBP, both of which are his highest marks since May 24. He’ll enter Friday’s game having reached in nine straight plate appearances.

It’s the 11th four-walk game for a player this year, but Tucker joins Endy Rodríguez as the only players to walk in all four of their plate appearances. He’s 6-for-17 with a homer and six walks in his last five games.