Plenty is at stake for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants in their weekend series at AT&T Park. Los Angeles is playing for home-field advantage in the National League Division Series, while San Francisco is looking to remain in position for the Wild Card Game.
The three-game set also signals the end of Vin Scully’s historic career. He is calling each of the games, which will be simulcast on SportsNet LA and KTLA. Friday’s contest features dueling southpaws in Rich Hill and Madison Bumgarner.
The start is Hill’s first in 10 days. He was scratched from an outing against the Colorado Rockies as a means of providing extra time for his blisters to continue healing.
Two of Hill’s five starts with the Dodgers have come against the Giants. In his debut with Los Angeles, the 36-year-old tossed six scoreless innings.
On Sept. 20, Hill allowed one run, on a homer, in five innings and suffered a tough-luck loss. While the Dodgers failed to generate any run support that night, Hill put the blame on his shoulders for missing the location on his pitch that resulted in the solo home run.
Hill has recorded at least seven strikeouts in each of his past four starts. He’s 3-2 with a 1.53 ERA and 0.68 WHIP with the Dodgers. Meanwhile, Bumgarner is looking to solve the Giants’ longtime rival for the first time this season.
He did throw seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts on Sept. 19, though was removed after another run-in with Yasiel Puig, and didn’t factor into the decision of a Giants’ loss. In four starts against the Dodgers this season, Bumgarner is 0-2 with a 3.91 ERA.
He’s coming off somewhat of a shaky outing, allowing five runs on four hits, including three home runs, to the San Diego Padres. Overall this season, Bumgarner is 14-9 with a 2.71 ERA and has already logged a career-high 219.1 innings.
The Dodgers predictably stacked their lineup with a bevy of right-hander batters. Included is Kiké Hernandez, who is 11-for-22 lifetime off Bumgarner, with four doubles, three home runs and five RBI.
One night after Brett Anderson threw 2.1 innings out of the bullpen, Brandon McCarthy is next to audition for a role as a reliever. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he’s looking forward to seeing McCarthy in that capacity.
The Dodgers and Giants have split their 16 head-to-head meetings this season, but Los Angeles is just 2-5 at AT&T Park.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Howie Kendrick
3B: Justin Turner
SS: Corey Seager
RF: Yasiel Puig
C: Carlos Ruiz
1B: Rob Segedin
CF: Kiké Hernandez
2B: Charlie Culberson
P: Rich Hill
Giants lineup:
CF: Gorkys Hernandez
1B: Brandon Belt
C: Buster Posey
RF: Hunter Pence
LF: Angel Pagan
SS: Brandon Crawford
2B: Kelby Tomlinson
3B: Gordon Beckham
P: Madison Bumgarner
