The Los Angeles Dodgers found out first hand that no lead is safe at AT&T Park. After jumping ahead of the San Francisco Giants by four runs, Alex Wood struggled through the fifth inning and Dodgers relievers followed suit, resulting in a 12-6 loss.
Although their scoreless streak ended at 31 innings and fell shy of tying or setting a new Major League Baseball record, the Dodgers have a franchise record to show for their strong start out of the gate this season.
Coming off their first loss of the season, the Dodgers hand the ball to rookie Ross Stripling for his Major League debut. The right-hander was a late entry to the Spring Training competition for the fifth starter job, and was officially named to the rotation by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts one week ago.
Entering Friday’s game, Stripling has yet to pitch above Double-A. He did put together six scoreless innings across three relief appearances, before stumbling a bit in a fourth game — his lone start — where he allowed five runs on seven hits.
In total, Stripling posted a 4.09 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over 11 innings pitched. Stripling’s first appearance of spring came against the Giants as he held them to one hit, walked one batter, hit another and had one strikeout over two innings.
Stripling is opposed by veteran right-hander Matt Cain. The former ace has battled arm trouble the past two seasons, which explains him currently bringing up the rear of the Giants rotation. Cain faces the Dodgers a 31st time in his career on Friday night.
He’s a lifetime 5-11 with a 3.49 ERA and 1.34 WHIP in the previous outings. Cain last started against the Dodgers in 2014, though San Francisco has lost each of the last five games to the Dodgers in which he’s started. Cain is 0-3 with a 5.27 ERA over that stretch.
He faces a Dodgers lineup that sees the return Justin Turner, who starts at his usual third base and bats third. Yasiel Puig, who is hitting a blistering .533/.611/1.000 (5-for-16) with two doubles, one home run and five RBIs, is back to fifth in the lineup after hitting third on Thursday.
Puig is among the Dodgers with previous success against Cain, as he’s 4-for-11 with two doubles, one home run and two RBIs. Adrian Gonzalez is a lifetime 22-for-74 with five doubles, four home runs and 13 RBIs against Cain.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
RF: Yasiel Puig
CF: Joc Pederson
LF: Scott Van Slyke
C: A.J. Ellis
P: Ross Stripling
Giants lineup:
CF: Denard Span
2B: Joe Panik
RF: Hunter Pence
1B: Brandon Belt
3B: Matt Duffy
SS: Brandon Crawford
LF: Angel Pagan
C: Trevor Brown
P: Matt Cain
