Dodgers at Giants
One day after watching 26-year-old Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Ross Stripling take a no-hitter into the eighth inning, fans at AT&T Park figure to enjoy another impressive pitching display Saturday as three-time Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw faces off against the San Francisco Giants’ Madison Bumgarner. The Giants improved to 4-1 with Friday’s 3-2 victory when Brandon Crawford homered off Joe Blanton to start the 10th inning.
Crawford is hitting .333 with two home runs for the Giants, who have won 10 of their last 12 games against the rival Dodgers in San Francisco. Enter Kershaw, who has made himself at home in the Bay Area with a 9-3 record and 1.16 ERA in 14 starts at AT&T Park, where the Giants have sold out their last 410 regular-season games. The Dodgers opened the season with a dominant three-game sweep of the San Diego Padres but have received a much tougher test from the Giants, who won Friday’s contest despite managing just two hits. Dodgers left fielder Carl Crawford was out of the starting lineup for the first two games of the series with soreness in his lower back and replaced by Scott Van Slyke, who has one hit in his first eight at-bats but could continue to start in favor of the ailing Crawford this weekend.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1, SportsNet LA (Los Angeles), CSN Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers LH Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (1-0, 5.40)
Kershaw was in midseason form on Opening Day as he struck out nine and held San Diego scoreless over seven innings in a 15-0 victory. The Texas native is 16-7 with a 1.54 ERA in 30 career starts against the Giants, including six complete games and five shutouts. Kershaw has caused trouble for multiple Giants, especially Brandon Belt (3-for-37 with 21 strikeouts), Hunter Pence (5-for-56 with 15 strikeouts) and Crawford (1-for-21).
Bumgarner pitched through flu-like symptoms on Opening Day in Milwaukee on Monday and earned the win despite allowing three runs and five walks over five frames. “I just never really felt like I could get dialed in,” he told reporters. “Sometimes days like that are more rewarding than when you go out with your best stuff.” Yasiel Puig is 7-for-24 with two homers against the 2014 World Series MVP, who is 13-7 with a 2.45 ERA in 22 career games (21 starts) against the Dodgers.
WALK-OFFS
1. Puig has reached base safely in 13 of his first 22 plate appearances.
2. Kershaw and Bumgarner are facing each other for the eighth time, and the Giants have won three of the last four matchups.
3. Dodgers 2B Howie Kendrick (calf) went 1-for-3 in his minor league rehab game with High-A Rancho Cucamonga on Friday and could be activated in time for Tuesday’s home opener.