The mound thinned by injuries, Dodgers visit Giants
The mound thinned by injuries, Dodgers visit Giants in San Francisco
Giants vs. Dodgers. It's a rivalry that dates back over 100 years and across the Lower 48 when the pair was going at each other just a few miles apart in New York.
Though the series means something all the time to the respective fans in San Francisco and Los Angeles, it hasn’t had the same luster in recent years with the Giants well back in the rankings, their last winning season coming in 2004 when Baroid Bonds was still going strong.
That’s not the case this year with the two teams fighting at the top of the NL West. The Dodgers fast-tracked out to an early lead in the division and appeared to be on their way to coasting to the title not that long ago before falling into a funk. LA is 11-13 since the All-Star break, dropping four of the last five series.
Meanwhile San Francisco, picked by some to be the second-best team in the NLW this season, is exceeding expectations so far this year though they also have run into some doldrums of late. A 3-7 road trip out of the gate to begin the second half of the season has been righted a bit with the Giants going 9-4 the past two weeks.
Both teams feature strong pitching, but the Dodgers come into this one banged up on the mound and a bit thin in the starting ranks. Hiroki Kuroda (8-5, 4.44) will have the task of starting the series opener for LA on Monday opposite Giants lefthander Jonathan Sanchez (6-12, 4.49).
LA has won the last four games Kuroda started, including last Tuesday's 17-4 rout of the Brewers at Chavez Ravine. This will be his first assignment against the Giants this season, with the Dodgers 1-3 in his starts vs. San Fran in 2008. A lack of run support cost him in his two games at AT&T last season, with Kuroda tossing 13 innings combined and allowing a single run only to wind up with a pair of no-decisions. He's limited the batters he could face in this game to a .571 OPS, striking out nine and walking three.
Sanchez has been either very good this season, or very bad, and he's been bad more often than good. This will be his fifth start since his no-hitter against the Pad on July 10, with the Giants 2-2 over the previous four games. This will also be his third start this season vs. the Dodgers with San Francisco 0-2 in the two the mound the lefty made in April and May. Sanchez was pelted in an 8-0 loss at Dodger Stadium, and took a no-decision in a 5-3 loss here at AT&T on April 28, working five innings and being charged with a pair of unearned runs.
The series continues Tuesday night with Randy Wolf (14-10, 3.55) slated in Game 2 for the Dodgers against Joe Martinez (1-0, 5.87). And it concludes Wednesday afternoon with what could be a real dandy on the mound with Tim Lincecum (14-9, 2.20) starting for San Francisco against LA's Chad Billingsley (15-9, 3.73), though Billingsley's start remains up in the air after tweaking a hammy while running the bases in his start last Friday.
Joe Torre's troops own a 5-4 advantage over the Giants in the series so far this year, going 4-1 at home and 1-2 in the only set played in San Francisco. The two old rivals were dead even head-to-head in 2008, 9-9 with each team 5-4 on their home field. That followed the 2007 season in which each team took turns beating each other up on the road, the Dodgers going 7-2 at AT&T and the Giants 6-3 at Dodger Stadium.
Both teams come in off Sunday losses, the Giants falling 5-2 to Aaron Harang and the Reds while the Dodgers dropped an 8-2 decision to Javier Vazquez and the Braves. For LA it marked their third consecutive defeat and ended a horrible 205 homestand that saw them go 2-5 last week vs. the Brewers and Braves. San Francisco, with their NL-best 38-18 home mark, now sits tied for second in the NL West, 5½ behind the Dodgers.
San Fran's home record leads me to the series bet on them at -110, with an Over 8½ (+105) on the Monday night series opener.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com
Giants vs. Dodgers. It's a rivalry that dates back over 100 years and across the Lower 48 when the pair was going at each other just a few miles apart in New York.
Though the series means something all the time to the respective fans in San Francisco and Los Angeles, it hasn’t had the same luster in recent years with the Giants well back in the rankings, their last winning season coming in 2004 when Baroid Bonds was still going strong.
That’s not the case this year with the two teams fighting at the top of the NL West. The Dodgers fast-tracked out to an early lead in the division and appeared to be on their way to coasting to the title not that long ago before falling into a funk. LA is 11-13 since the All-Star break, dropping four of the last five series.
Meanwhile San Francisco, picked by some to be the second-best team in the NLW this season, is exceeding expectations so far this year though they also have run into some doldrums of late. A 3-7 road trip out of the gate to begin the second half of the season has been righted a bit with the Giants going 9-4 the past two weeks.
Both teams feature strong pitching, but the Dodgers come into this one banged up on the mound and a bit thin in the starting ranks. Hiroki Kuroda (8-5, 4.44) will have the task of starting the series opener for LA on Monday opposite Giants lefthander Jonathan Sanchez (6-12, 4.49).
LA has won the last four games Kuroda started, including last Tuesday's 17-4 rout of the Brewers at Chavez Ravine. This will be his first assignment against the Giants this season, with the Dodgers 1-3 in his starts vs. San Fran in 2008. A lack of run support cost him in his two games at AT&T last season, with Kuroda tossing 13 innings combined and allowing a single run only to wind up with a pair of no-decisions. He's limited the batters he could face in this game to a .571 OPS, striking out nine and walking three.
Sanchez has been either very good this season, or very bad, and he's been bad more often than good. This will be his fifth start since his no-hitter against the Pad on July 10, with the Giants 2-2 over the previous four games. This will also be his third start this season vs. the Dodgers with San Francisco 0-2 in the two the mound the lefty made in April and May. Sanchez was pelted in an 8-0 loss at Dodger Stadium, and took a no-decision in a 5-3 loss here at AT&T on April 28, working five innings and being charged with a pair of unearned runs.
The series continues Tuesday night with Randy Wolf (14-10, 3.55) slated in Game 2 for the Dodgers against Joe Martinez (1-0, 5.87). And it concludes Wednesday afternoon with what could be a real dandy on the mound with Tim Lincecum (14-9, 2.20) starting for San Francisco against LA's Chad Billingsley (15-9, 3.73), though Billingsley's start remains up in the air after tweaking a hammy while running the bases in his start last Friday.
Joe Torre's troops own a 5-4 advantage over the Giants in the series so far this year, going 4-1 at home and 1-2 in the only set played in San Francisco. The two old rivals were dead even head-to-head in 2008, 9-9 with each team 5-4 on their home field. That followed the 2007 season in which each team took turns beating each other up on the road, the Dodgers going 7-2 at AT&T and the Giants 6-3 at Dodger Stadium.
Both teams come in off Sunday losses, the Giants falling 5-2 to Aaron Harang and the Reds while the Dodgers dropped an 8-2 decision to Javier Vazquez and the Braves. For LA it marked their third consecutive defeat and ended a horrible 205 homestand that saw them go 2-5 last week vs. the Brewers and Braves. San Francisco, with their NL-best 38-18 home mark, now sits tied for second in the NL West, 5½ behind the Dodgers.
San Fran's home record leads me to the series bet on them at -110, with an Over 8½ (+105) on the Monday night series opener.
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they start games. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com and ESPN.com
