Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Dodgers (64-55) retreat home for a short homestand and three-game series with the Giants (59-60) before they head up north to Seattle this weekend. After losing three straight heartbreakers to the Rockies at Coors Field, some time at home – even if brief – is welcomed. The bullpen is a mess, the offense isn’t firing on all cylinders, and even the defense has been problematic. The Giants would of course love to be the spoilers this year, and the final series of the regular season in San Francisco worries me. For now it would be nice to not fall further out of first place, otherwise the final series of the season might not even mean anything.
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Giants
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Dodgers
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7:10 PM
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Los Angeles
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RF
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McCutchen |
2B
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Dozier | |
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2B
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d’Arnaud |
3B
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Turner | |
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C
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Posey |
SS
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Machado | |
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3B
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Longoria |
CF
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Hernandez | |
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1B
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Slater |
LF
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Taylor | |
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SS
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Crawford |
RF
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Puig | |
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LF
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Hernandez | 1B | Bellinger | |
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CF
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Duggar |
C
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Barnes | |
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P
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Bumgarner (L)
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P
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Kershaw (L)
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It’ll be a good old-fashioned Clayton Kershaw (5-5, 2.58 ERA, 3.10 FIP) vs. Madison Bumgarner (4-4, 2.69 ERA, 3.58 FIP) matchup on #LeftHandersDay. The two aces have faced each other 11 times in their careers, but it’s been awhile. The last time the NL West foes matched up was on September 19, 2016.
In honor of #NationalLeftHandersDay #Dodgers Clayton Kershaw and #SFGiants Madison Bumgarner will match up for 11th time tonight, 1st since 2016. LA and SF have split first 10.
Individually,
Bumgarner — 2.56 ERA 1.14 WHIP 71 K 14 BB
Kershaw — 2.00 ERA 0.81 WHIP 78 K 8 BB— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 13, 2018
Kershaw’s dominance against San Francisco is legendary when it comes to the Dodgers-Giants rivalry. In 42 career starts against the Giants, Kersh is 22-10 with a 1.60 ERA and 320 (!) strikeouts in 310 1/3 innings. He’s only faced the Giants once this season, back on April 8, and allowed one run on six hits in seven innings.
Last time out in Oakland, Kershaw wasn’t involved in the decision after striking out just one batter over six frames and only inducing four swings and misses on 97 pitches. That’s definitely not the Kershaw we know. Even though Kersh wasn’t the sharpest, and he’s still yet to reach 100 strikeouts on the year, he kept the Dodgers in the game. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. The bullpen and Yasmani Grandal couldn’t hold on to the ball or the tie.
The Dodgers still have the best overall ERA in the NL (3.53), and their starting pitchers also lead the league in ERA (3.30). The bullpen is eighth in the NL with a 3.92 ERA, but August has been an especially rough month for the bullpen who have the third-worst ERA in baseball (6.55) for the month. The Cardinals’ bullpen has a miniscule 0.99 ERA this month.
Bumgarner is coming off a solid seven innings against the Astros despite coming away with a no-decision. He’s struggled on the road (4.44 ERA) versus at home (1.71 ERA). He’s pitched very well in his two starts this month allowing just one run and striking out 12 in 12 innings. Overall in his career against the Dodgers, he’s 15-10 with a 2.60 ERA in 30 games (29 starts) with 188 strikeouts in 190 2/3 innings. He’s 9-7 with a 2.42 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) at Dodger Stadium.
Enrique Hernandez is batting cleanup against MadBum. He’s hitting .455/.471/.970/1.440 with five doubles and four home runs against the quick-tempered left-hander.
I hope Puig & Kiké are both starting tonight to give the Dodgers lineup the maximum MadBum piss off potential.
— Stacie Wheeler (@StacieMWheeler) September 19, 2016
Yasiel Puig and Kiké are both starting to my delight.
Kiké Hernandez’s ownage of MadBum is one of my favorite things in baseball.
— Stacie Wheeler (@StacieMWheeler) June 17, 2018
It’s the little things.
Speaking of entertaining things, we still get to the enjoy #pitcherswhorake here in the NL. Kershaw is hitting .200 this season with six base hits in 30 at-bats. Bumgarner hasn’t had a good year at the plate and is batting .083 with two hits in 24 at-bats. German Marquez is leading the NL with a .357 batting average among pitchers with at least 20 at-bats. Kershaw is tied with Jhoulys Chacin and Vince Velasquez, rounding out the top 10.
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There was a roster move before the game.
#Dodgers activate Erik Goeddel from the DL, make it another round trip for Pat Venditte back to OKC
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) August 13, 2018
An update on Kenley Jansen was also given.
Kenley Jansen is here & threw a bullpen. He’s able to perform light running and is able to lift weights. He’s eager to get back & will know more at 8/20 appt. Acknowledged off season surgery is a possibility.
— Alanna Rizzo (@alannarizzo) August 13, 2018
Jansen said the recurrence of heart issues in Denver might not be altitude-related. “I’m going back to Denver. Can’t be scared of life.”
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) August 13, 2018
Finally, check out this iconic t-shirt.
T-shirt of the day in Dodgers clubhouse. pic.twitter.com/n35MG7liNb
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) August 13, 2018
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It’s time to snap the three-game losing streak and rattle off some wins. There’s 43 games remaining in the regular season, and it would be best for our collective emotional health for the season not to be decided in that final series in ‘Frisco.
