Dodgers Vs. Giants Preview: NL West Showdown Begins

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After winning two of out three games against the San Diego Padres, the Los Angeles Dodgers begin a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.

Manager Don Mattingly aligned the starting rotation so that the Dodgers’ top three pitchers would start in each of the games. Hyun-Jin Ryu gets the ball first as he looks for his 15th win of the season. Although Ryu has posted a 5.40 ERA against the Giants this season, the left-hander is 2-1 over three starts.

San Francisco counters with Madison Bumgarner. The left-hander has had an excellent season and is 17-9 with a 3.02 ERA. Bumgarner has pitched relatively well against the Dodgers this season, going 2-1 with a 2.41 ERA over three starts.

With the lefty on the mound, Justin Turner gets the start at second base in place of Dee Gordon. Perhaps further influencing the change is Turner’s career .333 batting average against Bumgarner in 12 at-bats.

Another change that correlates to facing a left-hander is Scott Van Slyke starts in left field, which puts Carl Crawford and his hot bat on the bench.

The slumping Yasiel Puig has been moved back to the top of the order for tonight’s game. In order for the Dodgers to win, they will have to do a better job at producing runs against Bumgarner. Tonight’s Dodgers’ lineup has a combined three home runs with just 11 RBIs off the Giants’ starter.

The pivotal series begins with the Dodgers holding a two-game lead over the Giants in the NL West standings. The two teams will become quite familiar with each other as they’ll play a total of six games in the next 13 days.

Dodgers Lineup

CF: Puig

2B: Turner

1B: Gonzalez

RF: Kemp

SS: Ramirez

LF: Van Slyke

3B: Uribe

C: Ellis

P: Ryu

Giants Lineup

CF: Pagan

2B: Panik

C: Posey

RF: Pence

3B: Sandoval

1B: Arias

LF: Blanco

SS: Crawford

P: Bumgarner
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