Los Angeles @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 31, 2010 ) LA Dodgers 1, San Francisco 2
Clayton Kershaw returns from a five-game suspension Sunday when the Los Angeles Dodgers visit the San Francisco Giants in the finale of a three-game series.
Kershaw’s suspension stemmed from his July 20 start against the Giants in Los Angeles. He nailed San Francisco’s Aaron Rowand with the first pitch of the seventh inning after both teams had been warned earlier in the contest.
Kershaw initially appealed the suspension and later dropped the appeal.
Los Angeles dropped the first two games of the series to San Francisco and could use another strong outing from Kershaw, who pitched eight shutout innings against the New York Mets in his last start.
Kershaw (10-5) lowered his earned-run average to 2.96 while beating the Mets. The left-hander has held opponents to a .219 batting average and has 138 strikeouts.
One player Kershaw will be wary of is San Francisco left fielder Pat Burrell, the hero of the Giants’ 2-1 victory on Saturday. Burrell has only seven career at-bats against Kershaw but has two doubles and a homer with six RBIs.
Burrell turned a possible loss into a Giants victory in the second game of the series when he hit a two-run homer off Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
San Francisco, which won Friday’s opener 6-5, concluded July with a 20-8 record.
The Giants won both one-run games without All-Star closer Brian Wilson, who is temporarily shelved with back pain.
Right-hander Matt Cain will aim to start August on the right track when he again attempts to end his longtime struggles against the Dodgers.
Cain has never beaten Los Angeles in 14 career starts, going 0-8 with a 4.32 ERA.
He lost to the Dodgers on June 29 when he gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings.
Overall, Cain is 8-8 with a 3.14 ERA. He is 2-0 with a no-decision in his last three starts.
Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier (.514 against Cain) has been a big reason for Cain’s struggles, but Ethier isn’t expected to be at the ballpark today after returning to Los Angeles on Saturday for the birth of his second child.
San Francisco’s Buster Posey just completed a phenomenal July in which he’ll likely be named the National League Player of the Month. Posey batted .417 (43-for-103) with seven homers and 24 RBIs.
Both teams made trades prior to Saturday’s trading deadline.
The Dodgers acquired left-handed pitcher Ted Lilly and second baseman Ryan Theriot from the Chicago Cubs for second baseman Blake DeWitt and two minor leaguers. Los Angeles also sent pitcher James McDonald and a minor leaguer to the Pittsburgh Pirates for veteran reliever Octavio Dotel.
Lilly will step into the Dodgers’ starting rotation and Dotel will serve in a setup role. Theriot replaces DeWitt as the Los Angeles second baseman.
San Francisco acquired two relief pitchers on Saturday – left-hander Javier Lopez from Pittsburgh and right-hander Ramon Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox.
Outfielder John Bowker was one of two players the Giants sent to Pittsburgh, while Ramirez was acquired for a minor leaguer.