Los Angeles @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 27, 2021 ) LA Dodgers 1, San Francisco 2
The host San Francisco Giants seek to continue their late-game mastery of the Los Angeles Dodgers when the National League West front-runners continue their three-game series Wednesday night.
The Giants moved three games up on the Dodgers in the West with a third straight win in the rivalry on Tuesday. They snapped an eighth-inning tie in a 2-1 victory.
San Francisco followed a similar script last week in Los Angeles, rallying for 4-2 and 5-3 victories to finish a 3-1 series win by outscoring the Dodgers 7-0 in the eighth and ninth innings.
Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee each posted a save in those games, then combined for a win and a save, respectively, in Tuesday's series opener.
"It really doesn't matter who pitches the eighth and who pitches the ninth as long as we win," Rogers insisted after Tuesday's win. "We're told beforehand what part of the order we're going to be facing, but you never know how the game is going to play out. So you have to be ready for both.
"That's the great thing about Jake: He's selfless. I'm that way, too."
The day wasn't a total loss for the Dodgers. Manager Dave Roberts announced before the game that left-hander Clayton Kershaw threw a three-inning simulated game at Oracle Park in the late afternoon and came away looking healthy.
Kershaw has been out since early July after experiencing pain in his left forearm.
"The stuff was good to the eye," Roberts reported. "But most importantly, he felt good coming out of it physically (and) mentally."
Roberts indicated that Kershaw could return to the team next week. After the series finale Thursday, the Dodgers don't play the Giants again until three final times in September.
Right-handers Walker Buehler (10-1, 2.31 ERA) of the Dodgers and Anthony DeSclafani (10-4, 2.87) of the Giants, who went head-to-head in the series finale in Los Angeles last week, are scheduled for a rematch Wednesday.
Buehler left last week's game with a 3-1 lead after pitching 7 1/3 innings of one-run, five-hit ball. The effort lowered his career ERA against the Giants to 2.05 and kept him unbeaten (6-0) in 11 games, including nine starts, against the rival.
The no-decision extended his current unbeaten run to five games, during which he's gone 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA.
DeSclafani, meanwhile, allowed all three Dodgers runs in six innings in last week's meeting. He stood to get the loss before the Giants rallied, keeping his lifetime record against the Dodgers at 1-7 in 10 starts. His ERA in those games is 6.11.
Several Dodgers have been rough on DeSclafani over the years, including Max Muncy, who has two home runs in 14 at-bats in their head-to-heads.
The clubs are tied 7-7 in their season series.
--Field Level Media