The last trip up to the bay for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the three-game series in which they got swept, seems like ages ago. But a lot has changed since that series, as the teams have trended in opposite directions.
The Dodgers have clinched the division and are looking to surpass the 100-win mark in this series. The Giants are at 69-74 and 8 ½ games out of a playoff spot.
Los Angeles is still five games ahead of the Astros for the best record in the league, which is really what they should be focused on now. That and keeping everyone healthy, but you can only do so much. Max Muncy was hurt in the last game of the year last season, but that was in the middle of a tight pennant race.
After this game, the Dodgers only have three road games against the Padres. The rest of the games are home games.
With the Dodgers clinching this early, it could hurt or help them. It gives them the chance to rest players, but at the same time, too much rest can always cause a player to go cold.
Apart from that early season sweep, the Dodgers have dominated the Giants. The Blue Crew have swept the Giants twice in four-game series. The Dodgers own a 12-4 record against the Giants this season and have beat up on the division quite a lot.
Pitching matchups have been set for this season finale between the two rivals. The Dodgers are starting Dustin May, Julio Urias, and Andrew Heaney. These starts will also become tryouts for the postseason roster, as the Dodgers can only fit so many players into the roster.
May came back from Tommy John surgery late this season and is still looking to ramp up for the postseason, as the Dodgers could use him. Urias has been the most consistent Dodger starter this season, and it is incredible how far he’s come. Heaney, while he has struggled with injuries a bit, has had an excellent deal, similar to Tyler Anderson on a one-year deal.
The Giants are starting Logan Webb and Alex Cobb. They have not announced a starter for Saturday’s game.
No matter the record, it is always fun to beat the hated ones from up North. Hopefully, the Dodgers can put one last exclamation point on the rivalry for this year. It will be the last time the two teams play each other 19 times each year, as there will be fewer meetings between division rivals next year due to scheduling enhancements.
Friday’s game is on Apple TV, the first pitch will be at 7:15 p.m. Pacific.
This team is good enough to win 6 of 10 on cruise control. And that should do it. Pitching needs a few days rest, and they can get it. Gallo “is close”. All he needs to be a force is to get a bit closer. Muncy is hitting, CT will too. Bellinger is.. never mind. The bullpen will be rested and ready. The top of our order is the best in baseball.
My confidence level is high.
This team has been so dominate this year and yet I Can’t shake the feeling that this is last year ( or any year) all over again. We may be due for a stumble so better now then end of season. While our stats are dominant our overall record isn’t. I couldn’t stand another disappointment this year.
“While our stats are dominant our overall record isn’t”
Did you mean to say that, Gordon? If we continue at our current pace, we’re on track to win 112 games this year, a number only reached by three other teams in all of MLB history.
Or were you referring to our overall record in the playoffs?
Actually both Jeff. We are actually only 8 or 10 games ahead of 2 teams in the league which is a relatively small difference over a season. If we played 20 games each against Philly, Braves and Mets(east dvision) and only 5 each against Colorado, giants and Arizona (west division) its not hard to figure where we would be in the overall standings. My point was I guess, that considering our dominant offensive and defensive stats and the below 500 teams in our division, we should have a much larger lead. Oops. That just explained it.
We just won our 100th game tonight. If we win 7 of our remaining 18, we’ll set a new franchise record.
Houston, our nearest rival for home field advantage has a playoff team and three weak sisters in their division, same as we do. The M’s and Pads each have 80 wins, but where the Rockies/Dbacks/Giants have 200 wins between them, the Angels/A’s/Rangers have 179. So you could also say that if Houston was in the NL west they’d be way farther behind us than they are.
I’m not saying we couldn’t be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs but I’m definitely not going to call the team out for not having enough wins. Yes, if we’d played the Braves and Mets 20 times this year, we probably wouldn’t have quite as many wins…………………..but neither would they. Philadelphia has the same amount of wins as San Diego and we totally dominated the Pads this year.
I’m thrilled with the results so far, but my concern is that we may have peaked too early. I guess we’ll find out in October.
It was fun listening to Kershaw being interviewed while he was watching May pitch. Kershaw was chuckling and saying how nasty May’s pitches were. He commented in an aside to one of the players behind him that May wasn’t getting hit tonight. Well he was right. When May was behind the count on one player he threw a high 100 mph pitch the hitter whiffed on and Kershaw just shook his head.
May should be in the rotation. But with his high movement & velocity pitches he can certainly shut down a rally. To me it depends on Gonsolin. If Gonsolin is back and can start then the rotation might be Urias, Gonsolin, Anderson and Kershaw. But if Gonsolin is limited I would plug May into Gonsolin’s slot. May could see critical usage if Treinen cannot return. I see Kahnle might be ready? I do not trust Heaney to not allow a lot of home runs in a critical playoff start. If Price is back he could be an asset picking up a couple of innings or possibly pitching behind Gonsolin if he needs a short start. I feel confident the Dodgers can win the WS. What a catch by Gallo last night and having “Team Baseball” at bats with two sacrifices to score one run and move a base runner.
I agree Jeff. I’ve said that before about Houston. Their record is all so inflated. I’m also concerned about peaking to early. The Yankees clearly were the best team in baseball the first half and look at them now. I believe we’d have at least 10 less wins in the NL east division and any of them would have 10 more wins playing in the west. Big swing. We don’t really appreciate how pathetic the west is. In fact the padres would also have 10 less wins in the east. We are just not as dominate as we think we are and I would hate to think where we’d be without turner and Freeman.