San Francisco Giants Battle the Dodgers Again, Looking to Close in on First Place
Are you ready for round four? The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers meet again, as the top-two teams in the National League West face off for their fourth series of the year.
The Giants’ offense woke up in Thursday’s series finale with the Seattle Mariners, one night after being totally shut down by Felix Hernandez. The bats opened up for seven runs on 10 hits, their first double-digit hit output since June 10th against the New York Mets. The two teams split the four-game series, with each team winning one home game.
Thursday’s win gave the Giants their 19th victory as the visiting team, the most in the National League so far this year. They’ll look to continue that success at Dodger Stadium this weekend. The Giants are 7-2 against Los Angeles this year, but both losses came at Dodger Stadium.
At home, Los Angeles has been very tough to beat, evidenced by their 26-11 record, the second-best mark in baseball. They lost three of four in their most recent series to the Texas Rangers, but took the series finale on a walk-off balk, resulting in a 1-0 win.
With a sweep, the Giants can pull ahead of the Dodgers by a half-game, but that will be no easy task. San Francisco would love to build up momentum by sweeping Los Angeles for the third time this year. On the other hand, an LA sweep would be a big confidence killer for the Giants.
Here are the starting pitching matchups for the three-game series.
Game 1: Chris Heston (6-5, 3.76 ERA) vs. Mike Bolsinger (4-1, 2.25 ERA)
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Heston struggled in his most recent outing, the first after his no-hitter, which seems to happen all too often after a pitcher throws a no-hitter or perfect game. Against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Heston allowed seven hits and three runs in five innings, including a career-high four walks in the loss.
Heston hasn’t faced the Dodgers yet this year, but he did in two relief appearances in 2014. In 1.1 innings, he didn’t allow a hit, andstruck out two batters while walking one. Only three Dodgers’ players are left over from those days. Adrian Gonzalez (0-1), Joc Pederson (walk), and Scott Van Slyke (0-1, strikeout) are the only holdovers. Yasmani Grandal went 2-2 against Heston when he was with the San Diego Padres.
Bolsinger has been slotted into the rotation to fill in for all the injuries to Dodgers’ pitchers, and he’s pitched very well. He’s allowed more than two runs just once in his eight starts.
He faced the Giants in his 2015 debut, and allowed just one run on five hits in 5.2 innings, but didn’t factor into the decision at the end. Overall, Bolsinger is 0-2 in three career starts against the Giants.
Brandon Belt is 3-6 (.500) against Bolsinger, and drove in the only run Bolsinger allowed in the first matchup. Brandon Crawford is 2-4 (.500) with an RBI triple.
Game 2: Tim Hudson (4-6, 4.65 ERA) vs. Carlos Frias (4-4, 4.14 ERA)
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Inconsistencies continue to plague Hudson, as he just can’t seem to string together a series of good starts. He wasn’t very good in his last outing, giving up eight hits and three runs against the Mariners, earning a loss.
Hudson took the mound against the Dodgers once earlier this year, and got the win by throwing 6.2 shutout innings.
Gonzalez has always been a tough out for Hudson, owning a .345 average (10-29). Jimmy Rollins is closing in on 100 at-bats against Hudson, with 91 official at-bats, his most against any pitcher all-time, plus seven walks. He has 21 hits, good for a .231 average, with five doubles, three triples and three home runs.
Frias, a rookie, started the year in the bullpen, but has also been pushed into a starter’s role by a lot of injuries. He started against the Giants on May 19th, and lost despite allowing just one run in six innings. In the five starts since, he’s allowed 21 runs in 29.2 innings, while striking out just 13, compared to 11 walks.
The flame-throwing Frias has allowed three hits to Angel Pagan in six at-bats, and Joe Panik is 2-4 with a double.
Game 3: Tim Lincecum (7-3, 3.31 ERA) vs. Brett Anderson (2-4, 3.43 ERA)
After four rough starts in a row, Lincecum bounced back with a solid outing against Seattle in his last time out. He allowed two runs in 5.2 innings, earning a win to snap the Giants nine-game losing streak at home.
He’s pitched well against Los Angeles in two starts at AT&T Park this year, allowing just one run in 13 innings. However, in his lone start at Dodger Stadium this year, he gave up four runs in four innings to take the loss. Overall, Lincecum is 11-8 against the Dodgers, but just 5-6 at Dodger Stadium.
Yasiel Puig is approaching Paul Goldschmidt-levels of ownage on Lincecum, minus the home runs. Puig is 10-17 (.588) against Lincecum with two doubles and two triples.
Anderson has started a game in all three series between these two teams so far. In 15 innings, he’s allowed 10 runs with a 1.733 WHIP, and LA has won just once in those starts.
Anderson enjoyed his best start of the year in his last outing facing the Rangers, going a season-high eight innings allowing two runs on eight hits. He took a no-decision, and the Dodgers eventually lost.
Anderson has never beaten the Giants in six starts, owning an 0-4 record. A couple of the Giants’ left-handed hitters have beat him up this year. Nori Aoki is 4-6 (.667) with two RBI, and Crawford is 6-7 (.857) with a double and an RBI.
Notes:
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The Giants will get Gregor Blanco back from the concussion disabled list, and he is expected to start the series opener on Friday. He’s no Hunter Pence, but getting Blanco back could be a big boost to the Giants’ offense. Before the injury, he was swinging an extremely hot bat, sporting a .362 average (21-58) in his last 22 games. The hope is that he can provide some of that spark again, but it won’t be easy after dealing with a head injury.
San Francisco will avoid the Dodgers’ dangerous duo of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, and the Dodgers will miss Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner and Kershaw have locked horns three times, and San Francisco has come away victorious each time. Greinke has never lost to the Giants, going 6-0 in eight starts.
June, yet again, has not been kind to the Giants. They’re just 6-10 this month, but another series win against their number-one rival could be just what the doctor ordered as they try to end their month on a high note. If they can continue their road success this weekend, things could start to look up.