After a month spent trending in opposite directions, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants meet Tuesday night in the first of nine remaining regular-season matchups. Of those games, six, including Tuesday’s contest, will be played at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers enter the key series with a one-game lead in the National League West standings. However, it’s the Giants who have the upper hand when it comes to probable pitchers for the three-game set this week.
San Francisco used Monday’s off-day to align their starting rotation so that Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and midseason acquisition Matt Moore take the ball.
Conversely, the Dodgers start Kenta Maeda on Tuesday, with question marks over the final two games of the series. Rich Hill, believed to at last have recovered from ongoing blister issues, is expected to start Wednesday.
However, Hill has also had his Dodgers debut set and pushed back on three separate occasions. Thursday is Brett Anderson’s turn in the rotation, though he left Saturday’s start in the fourth inning because of a blister.
Anderson had his 2016 debut last all of one inning after suffering a mild left wrist sprain. If Anderson is unable to start, he’ll likely be replaced by Ross Stripling. Stripling joined the club in Cincinnati on Monday and was on the return flight to Los Angeles.
Of the Dodgers’ probables, only Maeda has faced the Giants this season. He allowed one run over seven innings and had seven strikeouts in the one start. Anderson went 2-2 with a 4.28 ERA in six starts against San Francisco last season, often a victim of soft contact.
Bumgarner allowed just one to the Dodgers in six innings on April 9 at AT&T Park, but didn’t factor into the decision of a game the Giants dropped. Bumgarner’s next time facing the Dodgers came in Los Angeles.
He was knocked around to the tune of seven runs (four earned) on eight hits, two of which were homers. Johnny Cueto is 2-0 against the Dodgers this season, despite allowing six runs in one of his three starts. He’s thrown at least seven innings in each of the outings.
Matt Moore allowed seven runs on eight hits (two home runs) during a home start in May while he was with the Tampa Bay Rays. The left-hander was much improved at Dodger Stadium, holding Los Angeles to one unearned run over 6.2 innings to earn a win in late July.
On top of the excitement that will come with the Giants being in town, two of the three games are highlights on the Dodgers’ promotional schedule. On Tuesday, the first 40,000 fans in attendance tomorrow receive Dodgers headphones presented by Coca-Cola.
Then on Thursday, the first 40,000 fans in attendanc will receive a Corey Seager bobblehead presented by Your Southern California BMW Centers.
Levy Restaurants will offer a Castro Dog at the Extreme Loaded Dog concession areas located on field, loge and reserve levels throughout the entire series with the Giants.
The Castro Dog is an all-beef hot dog wrapped in bacon and seared with pickled carrots, pickled jalapeños and pickled red onions and garnished with fresh cilantro.
First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. PT, then a 7:00 p.m. PT start Wednesday, and a 7:10 p.m. PT in the series finale.
