San Francisco Giants go to Enemy Territory to Face Dodgers
After playing 19 games over the span of 20 days, the San Francisco Giants received an unexpected day off on Sunday, when uncooperative weather in Denver postponed the rubber match of a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies. Apparently, Mother Nature is a Giants’ fan.
The Giants have been streaky to start this season. They began the 2015 campaign by winning three out of four games, then went on a dismal stretch, dropping nine out of 10 contests. They appear to have their ship back on the right course, as they’ve won four of the last five, including a three-game sweep against the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park.
Now for the first time this season, the Giants head into enemy territory to take on those same Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles will be without a vital piece, as Yasiel Puig has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a bad left hamstring.
The Giants will throw out the same three starters that faced the Dodgers the first time around, as the rain delay pushed the starters a day back in their spots.
Game 1: Tim Lincecum (1-1, 2.00 ERA) vs. Brett Anderson (1-1, 5.40 ERA)
More from Golden Gate Sports
- Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
- 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
- Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
- 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
- 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve
In Lincecum’s last outing, he beat the Dodgers, earning his first win of the season, and his first as a starter since August 17th of last year. He continued his string of strong starts to begin the season, giving up just one run on five hits and three walks in six innings.
Lincecum has had mixed success at Dodger Stadium, as his record is 5-5 with a 3.64 ERA and 1.521 WHIP. Luckily, he will avoid Puig, who has had major ownage on The Freak. Puig is 10-17 (.588) with two doubles and two triples with Lincecum on the mound.
The guy who figures to replace LA’s Cuban stud is Andre Ethier, and he’s enjoyed some success against Lincecum as well. Ethier is 14-51 (.275) against him, with three doubles, two home runs, and seven RBI.
Anderson will be looking to avenge his only loss on the year so far, which came against Lincecum. In four innings, Anderson allowed nine hits and four runs. Nori Aoki and Brandon Crawford both accumulated a pair of hits against the lefty.
This will be Anderson’s second career start at Dodger Stadium. He won earlier this year there against the Mariners, giving up two runs in five innings.
Game 2: Madison Bumgarner (1-1, 4.63 ERA) vs. Clayton Kershaw (1-1, 4.07 ERA)
More from San Francisco Giants
- Thank you SF Giants for a fun, wild, surprising 2020 season
- SF Giants lose in heartbreaking fashion and miss 2020 MLB playoffs
- SF Giants: Mike Yastrzemski named 2020 Willie Mac Award recipient
- SF Giants: Chadwick Tromp placed on IL with shoulder strain
- SF Giants: Tuesday’s game against the Seattle Mariners postponed
The historic matchup of League MVP versus World Series MVP, the once-in-a-lifetime event, will happen again. Much like John Cena facing The Rock at WrestleMania, this supposed one-time event will be seen again.
In the first matchup, both pitchers dueled, each giving up two runs, and neither factored into the decision, as the game was decided by a ninth-inning walk-off for the Giants.
Bumgarner went 6.1 innings, and allowed six hits and two runs, with his big mistake being a two-run home run that cost him a 2-0 lead. He has been settling into a groove, and his off-speed pitches are working a lot better than they were in the first couple of outings.
Bumgarner has had no problems pitching in the unfriendly confines of Dodger Stadium, as he owns a 7-3 record, 2.19 ERA, and .914 WHIP in 10 starts.
Justin Turner will likely find his way into the Dodgers’ lineup for Bumgarner’s turn, as he is 7-21 (.333) with two doubles and two home runs. He could possibly replace Adrian Gonzalez, who is just 4-35 (.114) facing Bumgarner, although it is hard to take a guy who’s hitting .403 on the year out of the lineup.
Kershaw will be looking to continue his dominance of the Giants, as he is 14-5 with a 1.48 ERA in 26 starts versus the orange and black. Kershaw went six innings in the first rendition of the historic matchup, and allowed two runs on three hits with nine strikeouts. The two runs scored in the third inning, and after that, Kershaw retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced.
Game 3: Ryan Vogelsong (0-1, 7.71 ERA) vs. Zach Greinke (3-0, 1.35 ERA)
Vogelsong was surprisingly good in his first outing against the Dodgers, as he went six innings, and allowed just two runs on three hits and one walk. Two of those hits left the park, and Vogey left with a 2-1 deficit, eventually earning a no decision. He lowered his season ERA from 10.45 to 7.71.
At Dodger Stadium, Vogelsong has pitched nine times, going 2-1 with a 3.66 ERA. Gonzalez has had good success against him, going 6-20 (.300) with three doubles and two home runs. The two didn’t face off in the first series.
Greinke is overshadowed by the huge stature of Kershaw, but he is one of the best pitchers in the game, and when facing the Giants, he proves it. San Francisco avoided him in the first series, as his start was pushed back a day, but they won’t be so lucky this time around. Greinke has never lost to the Giants, and is 5-0 with a 1.58 ERA against them since joining Los Angeles.
Buster Posey is 6-18 (.333) with two RBI against Greinke, but Brandon Belt, Gregor Blanco, Joe Panik, and Crawford are a combined 7-46 (.152) against the right-hander.
Justin Maxwell should continue to get the majority of time in right field, as he mashed in Coors Field, and the Dodgers will be throwing out two lefties to start the series. Maxwell thrived in the hitter’s paradise, going 3-9 with two home runs, four RBI, and a walk. Overall, he’s hitting .308, and is tied for the team’s lead in home runs and RBI.
Live Feed
Around the Foghorn
Giants’ pitchers will have to figure out a way to get Alex Guerrero out. He received only five at-bats in the first series, but had four hits, including two home runs and a double, good for an .800/.800/2.200 slash-line
The Giants are getting leadoff hitters on base at a good rate, as the first batter of an inning reaches base 40 percent (64-178) of the time. The team would like to get that leadoff runner to score more often, as he crosses home 39 percent of the time.
On the other side, opposing leadoff hitters reach base just 35 percent of the time (61-175), but score at a higher rate. They’ve scored 26 times, good for 43 percent.
Digging further into those numbers, the old baseball saying “leadoff walks kill” has rung true for Giants’ hitters, but not their pitchers. Giants’ batters have worked 12 walks to begin innings, and they’ve scored five times (42 percent). Giants’ pitchers have allowed nine walks to start frames, but only once has that runner scored (11 percent).
The Giants have begun their climb out of the cellar in the NL West, and this is another divisional series that could go a long way towards them making their way back to the top. The Dodgers still sit atop the division at 11-7, and the Giants are 3.5 games back. San Francisco is only a half-game behind Arizona for fourth, and 2.5 behind Colorado and San Diego, who are tied for second.
Some of the Giants’ hitters have broken out of their slump, and it couldn’t come at a better time, as seemingly everyone went cold together. The Giants will be facing two of the best pitchers in baseball in this series, but as they showed in the first matchup against the Dodgers, you can’t predict rivalry games.