Both of tonight’s starting pitchers are searching for their first career victory in this NL West rivalry.
Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants
Los Angeles looks to avoid being swept in this three-game weekend series, after dropping a 2-1 contest on Saturday night to the Giants at AT&T Park. The loss was the Dodgers’ fourth straight, leaving them seven games behind first-place San Diego and 5.5 games back of today’s opponent in the NL Wild Card race. “All we’re doing is digging ourselves a deeper hole that we’re going to have to come back out of if we expect to do anything,” manager Joe Torre said. The team was shorthanded on Saturday due to the trade of Blake Dewitt, Andre Ethier going home to see the birth of his second child and Manny Ramirez still on the disabled list. Los Angeles is 9-7 when playing on Sunday this year (+70) and 37-33 on this day the past three seasons (-160). The club is still 26-15 at tonight’s venue since the 2006 season and have a solid 25-12 record against the division (+1,320).
Continue reading “ESPN Sunday Night Baseball Preview – Dodgers at Giants”
Los Angeles has fallen 4.5 games back in the NL Wild Card race after last night’s 6-5 road defeat against the Giants at AT&T Park. “I don’t know if we were playing a little soft earlier, but tonight I liked the way we fought back,” said catcher Russell Martin. The club is 5-10 since the All-Star break and has managed to score just 35 runs in that span. Don’t expect things to improve offensively this afternoon, as the Dodgers are averaging just 3.3 runs and hitting for a combined average during the day, leading to a 13-14 daytime record (-290). Outfielder Matt Kemp is the only Dodger with a batting average over .290 in the second half of the season. The Dodgers are not only 4.5 games behind the second-place Giants in the division, they are now seven games out of first place. The starting rotation has done its best to give the club an opportunity to win, posting a 1.54 ERA over the last 13 games, which is the lowest mark in Major League Baseball. Los Angeles is 14-18 against southpaw starters (-930) this season and the total is 17-15 O/U in those contests.
New York started its season-high 11-game road trip by getting shutout in a 2-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. The Mets have lost four of their last five games and have managed to score just three runs in the four losses. Despite failing to score a run, the lineup received a boost with the return of outfielder Carlos Beltran, playing his first game since May 20, 2009. “After being out for so long and going through a very long process, I was happy,” Beltran said. He went 1-for-4 last night and hit .367 with five RBI in 14 rehabilitation games. New York still holds a 14-8 series edge against the Giants over the last three years and have won the last four series in the Bay Area since 2006. The club has compiled a 14-10 record against left-handed starters this season (+420), with the total being 10-12-2 O/U in those games.
