With their postseason hopes on the line, the Los Angeles Dodgers kick off the final weekend of regular season play in the opener of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park.
The Dodgers still have a number of scenarios that can play out by the end of the weekend. The club trails the Colorado Rockies by one game in the National League West standings, but holds a 1.5 advantage over the St. Louis Cardinals for the second Wild Card spot after the Cardinals lost to the Chicago Cubs on Friday afternoon.
A win on Friday night against the Giants and Madison Bumgarner would clinch at least a share of the second NL Wild Card spot for Los Angeles. The four-time All-Star specifically requested to have his outing pushed back to Friday so he can face Los Angeles and potentially play spoiler to them advancing to October though.
In 20 starts this season, Bumgarner is 6-6 with a 3.20 ERA, 4.00 FIP and 1.24 WHIP over 123.2 innings pitched. The left-hander was tabbed with a no-decision in his last outing against the St. Louis Cardinals, to which he allowed eight hits and three runs across six frames.
Bumgarner is 0-1 against the Dodgers this season, having compiled a 3.75 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in two starts. In his career when facing Los Angeles, he’s 15-10 with a 2.61 ERA and 1.06 WHIP over 196.2 innings of work (31 games, 30 starts).
The Dodgers counter with fellow southpaw Hyun-Jin Ryu, who makes his 15th start of the season. He enters at 6-3, having compiled a minuscule 2.00 ERA, 2.82 FIP and 1.01 WHIP with 86 strikeouts and 13 walks in 76.1 innings pitched.
Ryu hasn’t allowed a run since Sept. 11. In two outings since, he’s tossed 13 shutout innings without yielding a walk in 13 innings pitched. That includes an impressive six-inning scoreless outing against the Colorado Rockies last Sunday.
Ryu has found success against the Giants this season, having allowed only seven hits and two runs over a combined 11.2 innings of work (two starts). He’s 4-3 with a lifetime 3.38 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 45.1 innings pitched at AT&T Park (eight games).
David Freese is hitting third and playing first base for the Dodgers. He has been better than advertised since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates, hitting .375/.474/.656 with two home runs and eight RBI in 16 games.
Dodgers lineup:
RF: Kiké Hernandez
3B: Justin Turner
1B: David Freese
SS: Manny Machado
LF: Matt Kemp
CF: Chris Taylor
C: Yasmani Grandal
2B: Brian Dozier
P: Hyun-Jin Ryu
Giants lineup:
RF: Hunter Pence
2B: Joe Panik
3B: Evan Longoria
C: Nick Hundley
SS: Brandon Crawford
1B: Aramis Garcia
LF: Austin Slater
CF: Gorkys Hernandez
P: Madison Bumgarner
