Vin Scully has reached the end of his Hall-of-Fame 67-year career, and it ends in fitting fashion as he’s on the call for the regular-season finale between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.
Other than concluding the season on a positive note, Los Angeles doesn’t stand to gain or lose much Sunday afternoon at AT&T Park. However, the result can impact the Giants’ path to the National League Wild Card Game.
San Francisco faces Kenta Maeda, who earns a $1.5 million bonus by making his 32nd start of the season. He’s coming off a planned abbreviated outing, throwing just 60 pitches over four innings.
Maeda’s start against the Giants is expected to be of normal length. He’s faced the Dodgers’ rival three times this season, with each start coming at home and resulting in a win.
On Sept. 21, Maeda allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits. The lone earned run came via an Ehire Adrianza solo homer. In the three victories against San Francisco, Maeda holds a 2.65 ERA and 1.29 WHIP.
On the season, he’s 16-10 with a 3.28 ERA, 3.58 FIP and 1.09 WHIP. In 173 innings pitched this season, Maeda leads all rookies in strikeouts and wins. He’s opposed by Matt Moore, who is the fourth consecutive left-handed starter the Dodgers see.
During Moore’s previous start, he earned a victory in a quality start at home against the Colorado Rockies. In 7.2 innings pitched, he allowed one run on six hits and had 11 strikeouts.
The southpaw has faced the Dodgers four times this season, with varying results in each outing. In his two starts with the Tampa Bay Rays, he split the outcomes.
On May 3, he allowed seven runs on eight hits, with three home runs and three walks during the start. However, on July 27, the Dodgers managed to score just an unearned run off Moore in 6.2 innings.
In his two starts with the Giants, the southpaw native flirted with greatness and had perhaps his worst start of the season. During the Aug. 25 outing, Moore allowed his first hit of the game with two outs in the ninth inning.
Then on Sept. 21, Moore didn’t make it past the first inning, allowing six runs on seven hits in a forgettable outing. In 11 starts with the Giants, Moore is 5-5, with a 4.48 ERA, 3.67 FIP and 1.43 WHIP.
Howie Kendrick enters the contest with the most experience against Moore, going 7-for-19 with a double and two RBIs. During Moore’s Sept. 21 start, Yasiel Puig hit a home run and made a tremendous diving catch. Kendrick bats leadoff, and Puig is in the cleanup spot.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he intends to get a final look at Alex Wood out of the bullpen. Wood warmed up during the eighth inning on Saturday, but never entered the game as Kenley Jansen worked out of the small jam.
Dodgers lineup:
LF: Howie Kendrick
3B: Justin Turner
SS: Corey Seager
RF: Yasiel Puig
1B: Adrian Gonzalez
C: Yasmani Grandal
CF: Joc Pederson
2B: Chase Utley
P: Kenta Maeda
Giants lineup:
CF: Denard Span
1B: Brandon Belt
C: Buster Posey
RF: Hunter Pence
SS: Brandon Crawford
LF: Angel Pagan
2B: Joe Panik
3B: Conor Gillaspie
P: Matt Moore
