Los Angeles @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 5, 2010 ) San Francisco 3, LA Dodgers 0
The San Francisco Giants fell out of the virtual tie for first place in the NL West on Monday without even playing a game.
While the Giants were enjoying an off day prior to Tuesday’s start of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Diego Padres defeated the Colorado Rockies to move back ahead of the Giants by a half-game in the division standings.
The division race figures to be tight over the final three weeks of the season after the Padres came back to the pack with a 10-game losing streak. For their part, the Rockies entered the race with a 10-game winning streak that ended on Monday.
A good component for the Giants is Tuesday’s game marks the start of playing 12 of their final 18 games at home.
It also doesn’t hurt that the Dodgers are playing out the string, although Los Angeles manager Joe Torre has indicated that he will play his regular starters in any game that involves the three contending NL West teams.
The Giants, who are 8-7 against the Dodgers this season, send Barry Zito to the mound in the series opener. Zito hasn’t beaten Los Angeles in five starts this season and hasn’t posted a victory against any team since July 16.
Zito has lost eight consecutive decisions to see his record drop to 8-12. Run support has been an issue in his games against Los Angeles – Zito is 0-2 despite a 2.84 ERA in 31 2/3 innings against the Dodgers.
However, he did give up four runs in four innings against Los Angeles on Sept. 3. He pitched well in his last start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but took the loss despite allowing two runs and four hits over six innings.
Zito is 6-7 with a 4.01 ERA in 18 career starts against the Dodgers. The left-hander’s season ERA is 4.14.
Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw can relate to pitching well against a team and having no wins to show for it. Kershaw has a 2.25 ERA in three starts against San Francisco but is 0-1.
Despite a solid season ERA of 2.99, Kershaw is 1-5 over his last eight starts while allowing two runs or less in six of the outings. The left-hander has an 11-10 record and is just three strikeouts away from 200 for the season.
San Francisco will be playing without center fielder Andres Torres, who underwent an appendectomy on Sunday while the team was in San Diego. Torres will likely miss the remainder of the regular season.
Giants left fielder Pat Burrell figures to be in the lineup against Kershaw as he’s 4-for-10 with three doubles, a homer and six RBIs against the Dodgers’ top pitcher.
Los Angeles center fielder Matt Kemp hits Zito well with a .415 career average in 41 at-bats, while first baseman James Loney is just 2-for-26 (.077).