San Francisco @ Los Angeles preview
Dodger Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 28, 2021 ) San Francisco 2, LA Dodgers 3
Not that the Los Angeles Dodgers-San Francisco Giants rivalry needs any spice, but it will get some anyway with a Dodger Stadium giveaway on Tuesday night.
Fans at the finale of the two-game series between the National League's top two teams will receive a Max Muncy "Get It Out of the Ocean" bobblehead.
The giveaway is a reference to a Muncy home run on June 9, 2019, at San Francisco that landed in McCovey Cove. Muncy posed at the plate to admire his work and received an earful from Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner. The players barked at each other and made gestures as Muncy rounded the bases.
Asked afterward what the conversation was about, Muncy said Bumgarner told him to run. Muncy's alleged retort: "If you don't want me to watch the ball, you can get it out of the ocean."
Bumgarner has since moved on to the Arizona Diamondbacks, but the Dodgers will recognize the moment anyway.
The Dodgers' starting pitcher that day was Walker Buehler, who will be on the mound Tuesday. The right-hander is 7-1 with a 2.51 ERA.
Buehler saw his 23-start unbeaten streak end in his most recent start Thursday, and it took a combined no-hitter by the Chicago Cubs to do it. Buehler lost for the first time since Sept. 21, 2019, going 9-0 in the run.
The Dodgers haven't lost since that Cubs no-hitter. Los Angeles won its fourth consecutive game Monday with a 3-2 victory over the Giants.
"I think that every game is an opportunity (to gain ground in the standings)," the Dodgers' Mookie Betts said. "We know (the Giants) are going to play us tough. It's two really good teams. I think we did a really good job of not adding any extra pressure on ourselves and going out and playing a game like we always do."
Betts, Muncy and Will Smith hit home runs Monday against the Giants, and four Dodgers pitchers held San Francisco 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Muncy has 10 home runs against the Giants since the start of last season, including six in 2021.
"They obviously put three really good swings on the ball, and it ended up going against me," Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani said. "... It obviously (stinks) giving up three home runs, but at the end of the day, it's three runs. No matter how I gave them up, I felt like I kept the team in the game, and we were in it until the last inning."
The Giants have lost consecutive games for the first time since they were swept by the Dodgers May 21-23 at San Francisco.
Right-hander Kevin Gausman (8-1, 1.49) will pitch for the Giants on Tuesday. Since his only loss of the season on June 12, the All-Star candidate has surrendered three runs in 15 innings over two starts.
In his lone start against the Dodgers this season on May 30, Gausman worked six scoreless innings, with no walks and seven strikeouts in San Francisco's 5-4 victory. In six career appearances against Los Angeles (five starts), he is 1-2 with a 3.56 ERA.
--Field Level Media