San Francisco @ Los Angeles preview
Dodger Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 19, 2010 ) San Francisco 5, LA Dodgers 2
Runs could be hard to come by Tuesday night when Tim Lincecum and Clayton Kershaw square off in the second contest of a three-game series between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.
San Francisco’s Lincecum (10-4) resembled his two-time Cy Young Award winning form in his last start when he tossed a complete-game, six-hit shutout against the New York Mets. He’ll be looking to help the Giants win for the 12th time in 15 games.
Los Angeles' Kershaw (9-5) has joined the upper-echelon of left-handed starters in the National League and has struck out 129 batters in 116 2/3 innings. His task is stopping Los Angeles’ five-game losing streak since play resumed after the All-Star break.
Lincecum blanked the Dodgers over six innings in his lone start against them this season back in April.
Kershaw fared well against the Giants in his start against them – also in April – when he gave up one run over seven innings. He wasn’t involved in the decision, but the Dodgers recorded a 2-1 victory.
Lincecum has given up just one run in his last 16 innings while lowering his ERA to 2.94. He leads the National League with 134 strikeouts.
Kershaw is coming off a shaky outing against the St. Louis Cardinals in which he gave up five runs – four earned – in 4 1/3 innings to see his ERA rise to 3.16. One start earlier, he struck out 12 and didn’t issue a single walk while beating the Chicago Cubs.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles left fielder Manny Ramirez could be headed back to the disabled list. Ramirez is scheduled to undergo an MRI exam on his sore right calf on Tuesday.
Ramirez has already been on the disabled list twice this season. The veteran slugger tweaked his calf against St. Louis last Friday.
First baseman James Loney (hamstring) and catcher Russell Martin (thumb) returned to action Monday. Loney has a team-leading 64 RBIs and is batting .396 in July. Martin had three hits on Monday.
Martin is hitless in 13 career at-bats against Lincecum. Third baseman Casey Blake (0-for-10) and center fielder Matt Kemp (2-for-15, .133) also have struggled against Lincecum.
Dodgers second baseman Blake DeWitt is hitting .500 (4-for-8) against Lincecum.
San Francisco left fielder Pat Burrell has found hitting against Kershaw to be a snap. Burrell is 3-for-5 with a homer, two doubles and five RBIs.
Giants catcher Buster Posey had an RBI-single in Monday’s win over the Dodgers to increase his hitting streak to 13 games.
San Francisco center fielder Andre Torres has five homers and 10 RBIs in July. Torres had three homers entering the month.