Dodgers Lineup vs Cardinals: Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland Out

The Los Angeles Dodgers begin the second full month of the 2026 season in St. Louis for a three-game series with the Cardinals.

The Dodgers enter the series in a bit of a rough patch, having gone just 6-7 over their last 13 games with two series losses. The Cardinals, on the other hand, are red-hot, coming off a four-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Dodgers (20-11) are in first place in the National League West. The Cardinals (18-13) are in third place in the NL Central.

Dodgers vs Cardinals Pitching Matchup on Friday

Right-handed pitcher Emmet Sheehan is taking the mound for the Dodgers in his sixth start of the season.

Sheehan has a 4.78 ERA across 26.1 innings with 28 strikeouts to nine walks. After struggling through his first three starts of the year, he's been much better in his last two. His most recent start was by far his best of the season, as he allowed one run over 6.1 innings with 10 strikeouts.

Opposite Sheehan will be Cardinals left-hander Matthew Liberatore, who's making his seventh start of the year.

Liberatore has a 4.75 ERA across 30.1 innings this season with 19 strikeouts to 11 walks. He allowed five runs on eight hits over 3.1 innings in his most recent start against the Seattle Mariners.

Dodgers Starting Lineup

1. Shohei Ohtani, DH
2. Freddie Freeman, 1B
3. Will Smith, C
4. Teoscar Hernández, LF
5. Kyle Tucker, RF
6. Andy Pages, CF
7. Max Muncy, 3B
8. Miguel Rojas, SS
9. Santiago Espinal, 2B

Hernández moves up to the cleanup spot against a left-hander with Tucker dropping to the No. 5 spot. Pages and Muncy also swap in the order.

Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland are out of the lineup, while Rojas and Espinal are starting at shortstop and second base, respectively.

The Dodgers have hit lefties well this year, with a team OPS of .818, which ranks second in Major League Baseball behind the Chicago Cubs. They'll look to keep it going on Friday night.

How to Watch Dodgers vs Cardinals on Friday

First pitch for Los Angeles Dodgers vs. St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, May 1 is 5:15 p.m. PT/8:15 p.m. ET.

The game will be broadcast on SportsNet LA and in the MLB App.

The game will be broadcast on the radio on AM570 (in English) and KTNQ 1020 AM (in Spanish).

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