After beating the San Francisco Giants on Friday night in the first of a three-game series, the Los Angeles Dodgers fell behind, 4-0, to the Giants in Saturday’s game. Five shutout innings from the bullpen and a two-run home run off the bat of Corey Seager was nearly enough for a rally, but the comeback fell short with the game-tying run stranded at third base in the ninth.
Kenta Maeda makes the third start of his career, and first against the rival Giants. The Japanese native has been masterful so far this season. In two starts, Maeda has thrown a combined 12 shutout innings, giving up 10 hits and one walk while striking out eight.
Maeda became the third Dodger starter (Kaz Ishii and Karl Spooner) to throw two straight scoreless starts to begin his career. In addition, his 12 shutout innings ranks fourth in Los Angeles franchise history for consecutive innings at the outset of a career.
The Giants counter with an offseason acquisition of their own in right-hander Jeff Samardzija. In his first two starts as a Giant, he is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA (five earned runs in 13.1 innings). Samardzija has given up 14 hits and walked five while striking out 11.
After a rough first outing, he bounced back to throw eight innings, giving up two runs against the Colorado Rockies. In his career against the Dodgers, the 31 year old is 1-2 in four games (two starts) with a 4.91 ERA, giving up 15 hits and five walks in 14.2 innings.
The Dodgers lineup looks much like it did on Saturday, with one exception being Howie Kendrick gets the start in left field and right fielder Yasiel Puig returns. Yasmani Grandal starts behind the plate in consecutive games since getting reinstated from the disabled list.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts mentioned being cautious with putting too much of a workload on Grandal’s shoulders too soon. Grandal went 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk in Saturday’s game, breaking up Johnny Cueto’s perfect game in the fifth inning.
Giants catcher Buster Posey has struggled since returning from a bruised foot that caused him to miss a couple games. The former MVP is 0-for-12 in his last three games.
Dodgers lineup:
2B: Chase Utley
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
RF: Yasiel Puig
C: Yasmani Grandal
LF: Howie Kendrick
CF: Joc Pederson
P: Kenta Maeda
Giants lineup:
CF: Denard Span
2B: Joe Panik
C: Buster Posey
RF: Hunter Pence
1B: Brandon Belt
3B: Matt Duffy
SS: Brandon Crawford
P: Jeff Samardzija
LF: Angel Pagan
