Order was restored Tuesday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers snapped their 11-game losing streak by defeating the San Francisco Giants, 5-3. The Dodgers magic number to clinch the National League West is now down to eight.
A win Wednesday would give Los Angeles their first series victory since taking two of three from the Detroit Tigers last month. What’s more, the Dodgers can win back-to-back games for the first time since Aug. 24-25.
Yu Darvish takes the mound hoping to snap out of a recent funk. Darvish has made three starts since coming off the disabled list and they have not been good, as he has allowed 19 hits, 13 runs and issued eight walks in 12.1 innings.
The right-hander is 0-3 with a 9.49 ERA over that span. Darvish did feel progress with mechanical adjustments he made in his last outing, and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman restated the organization’s confidence in him.
In 28 combined starts with the Dodgers and Texas Rangers, Darvish is 8-12 with a 4.25 ERA, 4.11 FIP and 1.24 WHIP. In 167.1 innings of work he has struck out 188 and walked 57. Wednesday marks Darvish’s first career start against the Giants.
Starting opposite the 31-year-old is Matt Moore, who has endured a rough 2017 season. In 29 games (28 starts), Moore is 5-13 with a 5.31 ERA, 4.66 FIP and 1.49 WHIP while striking out 137 and walking 59 in 162.2 innings.
The left-hander has been much better at home than on the road this season, however, pitching to a 4.30 ERA in 15 home games compared to 6.51 in 14 on the road.
Moore was brilliant in a start against the Dodgers in August 2016, as he came within one out of throwing a no-hitter. Since then he has struggled against Los Angeles, yielding a 7.01 ERA in five starts.
Corey Seager was responsible for breaking up Moore’s no-hitter, and in his career off the southpaw he is 5-for-18 (.278 batting average) with two home runs. Over his last 31 games, Seager is hitting .333/.376/.395 with 15 RBIs.
Logan Forsythe, who starts at second base and is slotted fifth in the Dodgers lineup, is batting .299/.437/.439 against left-handed pitching this season. He is hitless in three career at-bats against his former Tampa Bay Rays teammate.
Giants center fielder Denard Span is one of the hottest hitters in the league over the past week, as in his last seven games he’s hitting .455/.556/1.000 with three home runs and seven RBIs. Span is 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs so far in this series.
Dodgers lineup:
CF: Chris Taylor
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
1B: Cody Bellinger
2B: Logan Forsythe
C: Austin Barnes
LF: Kiké Hernandez
RF: Yasiel Puig
P: Yu Darvish
Giants lineup:
RF: Hunter Pence
LF: Jarrett Parker
CF: Denard Span
1B: Buster Posey
SS: Brandon Crawford
C: Nick Hundley
3B: Pablo Sandoval
2B: Kelby Tomlinson
P: Matt Moore
