Dodgers NLCS lineup: Gavin Lux starts against Mets' Luis Severino in Game 3

Gavin Lux is back in the Dodgers lineup for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series against the Mets, three days after suffering hip flexor strain in Game 1.

Lux wasn't planning on starting Game 2 against left-hander Sean Manaea anyway, but the hip flexor gave him a day off. He was available off the bench in Los Angeles on Monday and was even on deck for a pinch-hit in the bottom of the eighth inning.

On Wednesday, Lux plays second base and bats sixth base. So far this postseason, Lux is 5-for-19 with two walks and is hitting .263/.318/.421, including a two-run home run in Game 4 of the NLDS in San Diego.

Against right-handed pitchers this year, Lux hit .262/.332/.407 with a 109 wRC+, with 35 of his 36 extra-base hits coming from right-handers.

Mookie Betts has the most experience playing against Mets starter Luis Severino, who did not appear against the Dodgers this season. In their respective careers, Betts is 10-for-32 with four doubles, one home run and six walks against Severino, hitting .313/.421/.531 against the right-hander.

These include a home run, a single and a walk on June 2, 2023 at Dodger Stadium while Severino was with the Yankees, one of only two appearances in his career against Los Angeles.

Shohei Ohtani faced Severino once in both 2018 and 2023, recording three hits in six at-bats with a home run and a double.

The Dodgers made a small change to their lineup. Freddie Freeman is back batting third against a right-handed starter, but Max Muncy was brought forward to cleanup while Teoscar Hernández struck out fifth. It will be only the fifth time this season that Muncy has faced the fourth-ranked team, and in the other four games – all in September – either Hernández or Freeman was sidelined due to injury.

Walker Buehler hasn't played against the Mets since June 4, 2022, when he allowed five runs and recorded seven outs in his next-to-last start before undergoing Tommy John surgery and flexor tendon repair in August.

Pete Alonso hit a two-run home run in that game two and a half years ago at Dodger Stadium and is 5 for 14 (.357) with four home runs and eight RBI in his career against Buehler. Jose Iglesias had four hits in 10 at-bats against the Dodgers right-hander.

Old friend JD Martinez starts as designated hitter for the Mets on Wednesday, his first start of the series.