Los Angeles @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 1, 2016 ) LA Dodgers 0, San Francisco 3

The San Francisco Giants had some rough moments in the second half of the season, but they will be a playoff team once again with a win in Sunday's regular-season finale against the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers. Behind eight scoreless innings by rookie Ty Blach, the Giants picked up a 3-0 win over the rival Dodgers on Saturday to remain one game ahead of St. Louis for the second wild card in the National League.

A Cardinals loss on Sunday would also give San Francisco a spot in the wild-card game against the New York Mets, but the Giants are hoping to take care of business on their own. "We're not getting too giddy here," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy told reporters. "We have work to do." Saturday's loss for the Dodgers was their fourth in five games and means that they will begin the NL Division Series against Washington on the road. "We're on a little bit of a slide here," Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts told the media. "Today wasn't a good day for the quality of at-bats. Some with the lack of familiarity (with Blach), but even with that I think we gave away a lot of at-bats."

TV: 3:05 p.m. ET, SportsNet LA (Los Angeles), CSN Bay Area (San Francisco)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers RH Kenta Maeda (16-10, 3.28 ERA) vs. Giants LH Matt Moore (12-12, 4.21)

Maeda is 3-0 with a 2.65 ERA in three starts against the Giants this year but he has gone past five innings just once. He has allowed exactly three hits in four of his last five starts and is holding opponents to a .221 average overall. The 28-year-old threw 60 pitches in four innings of a loss at San Diego on Thursday.

Moore has won five of his last seven starts after holding Colorado to a run in 7 2/3 innings while striking out 11 his last time out. He has seen both extremes against the Dodgers, first flirting with a no-hitter in a win at Los Angeles on Aug. 25 and then getting hammered for six runs in one inning in a rematch on Sept. 21. Howie Kendrick is 7-for-19 against Moore while Adrian Gonzalez is just 4-for-17.

WALK-OFFS

1. If the Giants clinch a wild-card spot they will play at the Mets on Wednesday.

2. San Francisco LF Angel Pagan homered Saturday and has four multi-hit efforts in his last seven games.

3. With a win the Dodgers will finish 92-70 for the third time in four seasons.

PREDICTION: Giants 4, Dodgers 3