One of baseball’s most fiery and renowned rivalries is set to commence this evening, as the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants open up a four-game series at AT&T Park.
This series is surely going to tickle our fancy every step of the way, and the Dodgers, who won last year’s season series, 11-8, will hope to continue getting the best out of their division rivals. Will that be the case again for Los Angeles? Or will the Giants start turning the tables around?
Read on below for quick look at each encounter of this four-game set. And while you’re at it, check out our series preview of another heated rivalry showdown between the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels here.
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Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants Opening Regular-Season Series Preview
Game 1 (April 7, 4:35 PM ET) – Alex Wood (0-0) vs. Jake Peavy (0-0)
Speaking of which, Peavy’s been a huge menace to the Dodgers throughout his career. He boasts a 14-3 win-loss mark along with a 2.38 ERA, a .95 WHIP and .199 opponents’ batting average across 29 stars in this matchup.
Writer’s Prediction: Giants easily draw first blood, 7-2.
Game 2 (April 8, 10:15 PM ET) – Ross Stripling (0-0) vs. Matt Cain (0-0)
Again, the Dodgers’ injury woes are the main reasons why Ross Stripling is set to make his major league debut here. It’ll be interesting to see how Stripling, who’s missed most of the past two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery, will make the most out of this opportunity. But Dodger fans shouldn’t get their hopes up too much on him especially against a loaded Giants club.
On the other side, the Giants will pin their hopes on Matt Cain to lead them on the mound. Cain, who will be making his season debut, had an ERA of 5.79 and a 2-4 record across 13 games (12 starts) in 2015. He’s gone just 5-11 with a 3.49 ERA in over 30 career starts against the Dodgers, but will have the edge in experience over his opposite number.
Writer’s Prediction: Giants rock Stripling and take another win, 5-3.
Game 3 (April 9, 4:05 PM ET) – Clayton Kershaw (1-0) vs. Madison Bumgarner (1-0)
Obviously, this game is going to be the most explosive one. You have two premier aces in Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner dueling it out on the mound.
Kershaw will be fresh off a dominant Opening Day performance against the San Diego on Monday, during which he allowed just one hit and struck out nine batters throughout seven solid innings. Kershaw’s also been at his best when opposing the Giants, owning a 16-7 record, a staggering ERA of 1.54, a .82 WHIP and a .184 opponents’ batting average in a total of 31 career starts.
Meanwhile, the same can’t be said for Bumgarner, who still managed to notch the win despite yielding five hits and three earned runs in the season-opener against the Brewers.
Hopefully, he can relocate his old self in his first start against the Dodgers this season. Across 32 starts last year, MadBum went 18-9 with a 2.93 ERA and 1.01 WHIP while also limiting opponents to a .222 batting average.
Writer’s Prediction: This is anyone’s ball game. But I’m going to go with Los Angeles here especially since Kershaw’s been an absolute beast against San Francisco.
Game 4 (April 10, 4:05 PM ET) – Scott Kazmir (1-0) vs. Johnny Cueto (1-0)
Scott Kazmir’s Dodgers debut was almost just as solid as Clayton Kershaw’s performance in Opening Day.
Kazmir logged six strong shutout innings along with five strikeouts to lead Los Angeles to its second victory at the expense of the Padres on Tuesday night. More importantly, the 12-year veteran seems to be in line for another solid outing as he boasts a 1.42 ERA and a .204 opponents’ batting average over two career starts against San Francisco.
Speaking of which, San Francisco will be expecting Johnny Cueto to provide excellent results on the mound. The 30-year-old righty wasted no time in making a good impression during his Giants debut by giving up just one earned run in over seven frames against Milwaukee. Cueto is 2-5 with a 2.79 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in eight career starts opposite the Dodgers.
Writer’s Prediction: Kazmir puts on an efficient outing on the mound to help the Dodgers get by the Giants, 4-2.
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