When the Los Angeles Dodgers return from a 10-game road trip, they will begin their final homestand of the regular season. It calls for a weekend series with the San Francisco Giants, followed by a three-game set against the San Diego Padres.
Both teams are out of playoff contention but could play the role of spoiler for the Dodgers, as they are still looking to secure home-field advantage through the World Series. The matchup with the Giants is the second since three games were played at AT&T Park from Sept. 11-13.
Los Angeles juggled their rotation a bit during that series, skipping Hyun-Jin Ryu in favor of Kenta Maeda, and moving Clayton Kershaw up one night so as to hand the ball to Yu Darvish in the finale.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the team will start Rich Hill in the series opener on Friday, followed by Ryu and Kershaw, according to Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times
Rich Hill will start Friday, Hyun-Jin Ryu will start Saturday and Clayton Kershaw will start Sunday.
For Hill and Kershaw, the start is likely one of the final two each will make prior to the regular season coming to a close. A Sunday start leaves Kershaw aligned to again take the mound on Friday, Sept. 29, on regular rest; the Dodgers are off Sept. 28.
That would leave him on six days’ rest to start Game 1 of the NL Division Series on Friday, Oct. 6. The Dodgers may delay Kershaw’s regular-season finale by one day to cut into time off before the playoffs begin.
Hill can start on regular rest in next week’s finale with the Padres, or be pushed back into the weekend during the last series of the season. His outing on Friday will come with the possibility of the Dodgers clinching the National League West that evening.
The news is more notable for Ryu, whom Roberts recently said would compete with Maeda for a spot on the playoff roster as a relief pitcher. Ryu will be going on extra rest when he faces the Giants, as he last pitched Sunday, Sept. 17.
