The Los Angeles Dodgers snapped a three-game losing streak by shutting out the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday afternoon and are now in position to end their road trip with a series split.
Upon returning to Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers will host series against the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs. San Francisco enters their matchup with the New York Mets on Sunday night in a tie with the Dodgers for first place in the National League West division.
While Los Angeles will conclude their four-game series with the Reds on Monday, San Francisco has an off-day in advance of the division showdown.
The Giants are using that to their advantage by adjusting the rotation so that Madison Bumgarner and their front-line starters are slated to start against the Dodgers, via Jorge L. Ortiz of USA TODAY Sports:
With Monday's day off, the Giants are lining up Bumgarner, Cueto and Matt Moore for the series at Dodger Stadium.
— Jorge L. Ortiz (@jorgelortiz) August 18, 2016
On Saturday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts set his rotation so that Kenta Maeda, Rich Hill and Brett Anderson would take the ball in the key series. However, Anderson was removed from his start due to a blister that may put his availability in jeopardy.
For Hill, it’ll be his debut with the Dodgers after a blister on his throwing hand has delayed that from taking place on three separate occasions.
Bumgarner held the Dodgers to one run over six innings on April 9 at AT&T Park, but didn’t factor into the decision of a game the Giants lost. Bumgarner’s next start came at Dodger Stadium, and 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 tossed at least seven innings in each of the outings. Matt Moore allowed seven runs on eight hits and allowed two home runs during a home start in May while he was with the Tampa Bay Rays.
The left-hander was improved at Dodger Stadium, holding the Dodgers to one unearned run over 6.2 innings to earn a win in late July.
