Robbie Ray Faces Dodgers For First Time In 2026

robbie ray gets the Dodgers for the first time this season while Shohei Ohtani sits out as the designated hitter. Los Angeles has scored one run in each of its two most recent games without Ohtani hitting, so the change hits the lineup at a rough point.

Ohtani Off The Board

Ohtani is taking a day off from hitting to focus on his start, and this will be the fourth time this season the Dodgers have taken the field without him as their designated hitter. Dalton Rushing filled that role in the other three games, all against left-handers.

This time the Dodgers may turn to either Alex Call or Santiago Espinal at designated hitter. Miguel Rojas is likely to start over Hyesog Kim in the infield, tightening the look of a lineup that has already been pressed in the first two games of the series.

Ray’s Dodgers History

Ray missed the earlier series at Oracle Park, so this will be his first shot at Los Angeles this season. The matchup also carries a clear recent checkpoint for the left-hander, who allowed a combined 10 runs in back-to-back losses against the Dodgers in September of last year.

Those two starts were his last two appearances of that campaign, a sharp finish to a season in which the Dodgers saw him twice and handled him well enough to leave a mark. The Giants are asking one of their few bright spots to carry that history into a fresher look at the same opponent.

Dodgers Lineup Pressure

The Dodgers do not need a scoring lesson to know what has happened without Ohtani in the order. They have gone through three previous games this season without him as the designated hitter, and the latest two produced only one run apiece.

That leaves Los Angeles trying to solve Ray with a shrunken lineup and a DH spot that has already shifted once this season. If Call gets the nod, his 2026 numbers give him the edge over Espinal, and the Dodgers will need that choice to hold up against a left-hander who has already lived through them before.