Giants at Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers seek their third winning streak of at least eight since mid-June when they finish a long homestand with the finale of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. After a comeback 6-4 win in the series opener, the Dodgers scored two early runs and held on for a 2-1 triumph Saturday to claim their seventh win in a row.
The major league-best club has allowed an average of 3.14 runs during the current streak, which gives Los Angeles a phenomenal 38-6 mark since June 7 and puts the club 42 games over .500 (73-31) for the first time since finishing 102-60 in 1974. Corey Seager had three hits - two doubles - and scored both runs for the Dodgers on Saturday and he is 5-for-8 with four runs scored and three RBIs in the series. Incredibly, Los Angeles has only split 12 games against the last-place Giants, who are 18-36 on the road and 33 1/2 games behind their National League West rivals. Giants ace Madison Bumgarner had his scheduled start moved from Monday to Sunday and will try to salvage the finale of the set for San Francisco as he toes the rubber opposite Hyun-Jin Ryu.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, ESPN
PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (1-4, 3.38 ERA) vs. Dodgers LH Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-6, 4.17)
The Giants had lost each of Bumgarner's first six starts this year before he helped them roll past Pittsburgh in his previous turn, allowing one run in five innings. The four-time All-Star has 42 strikeouts against just eight walks in 2017 and he's posted a 2.89 ERA through his first four road outings. Bumgarner is 14-9 with a 2.70 ERA in his career against the Dodgers, who figure to give reserve outfielder Enrique Hernandez a rare start, as he is 12-for-24 with three homers against the southpaw.
Ryu has failed to get through six innings in five straight starts but allowed exactly two runs in each of the last four to help the Dodgers go 3-1. He limited the Giants to a run in six frames at San Francisco earlier this year and is 4-5 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 career matchups. Hunter Pence, whose solo homer accounted for all of the offense for the Giants on Saturday, is 11-for-25 with a pair of doubles against the 30-year-old Ryu.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Dodgers' bullpen has produced 16 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.
2. Giants LF Gorkys Hernandez has hit safely in eight of his last nine contests after doubling in three at-bats Saturday.
3. Los Angeles C Yasmani Grandal has five multi-hit efforts in his last eight games.