In the second of a three-game series between the San Francisco Giants (5-10) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (5-10) at AT&T Park, Madison Bumgarner (1-1, 5.29 ERA) and Clayton Kershaw (1-1, 4.42 ERA) take the mound. The Giants won the last game 6-2 and San Francisco leads the series 1-0. The game starts at 10:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Apr. 22 and will air on SportsNet LA and NBC Bay.
Bumgarner is 11-5 with a 2.54 ERA against the Dodgers in his career, but is up against a solid Los Angeles offense that’s hitting .284 on the year. Norichika Aoki (.344, 7 Rs, 2 RBIs, 4 SBs) continued his strong season yesterday, going 2 for 5 with one RBI. In his career against the Giants, Kershaw is 14-5 with a 1.43 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, and 191 strikeouts. Howie Kendrick (.367, 8 Rs, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs, 1 SB) went 1 for 3 yesterday with one run.
San Francisco is a +112 underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is five runs. The Giants have a losing record of 2-4 when playing as the underdog and an overall money line of -788. They have struggled as the underdog over their last 10 games, going 0-3.
Switching to the opposing bench, the Dodgers come into this game with a solid win percentage of .727 when playing as the favorite (8-3) and an overall money line of +468. They have played at the top of their game when rated as favorite recently. They managed a 7-2 record when playing as the favorite and an SU record of 8-2. The Dodgers are the number one overall scoring offense in the NL, averaging 5.2 runs per game so far. One of the top hitting teams in the NL are the Dodgers, who average 9.8 hits per game. The Dodgers average 4.2 walks per game, making them the most disciplined team in the NL.
The only other game between the two teams went San Francisco’s way.
Predictions: SU Winner – LAD, O/U – Over
Notes
San Francisco has lost all of its games (0-4) when leading after 7 innings. However, Los Angeles has won 60% (3-2) of its games when taking a late lead.
The Giants managed to give up six walks in their last game. They’ll have to pick it up against the Dodgers who are coming in with a 1-1 record against opponents who give up that many walks or more.
When they are outhit, the Dodgers are 0-3. The Giants have a 1-5 record when opponents outhit them.
San Francisco ranks near the bottom of the league at 24th when it comes to home runs, hitting nine this season. Los Angeles ranks in the top 10 at seventh with 17.
Ranking ninth, San Francisco is in the top 10 of the league in hits, notching 8.07 per game. Los Angeles ranks in the top five at second with 9.75.
Ranking first in on-base plus slugging percentage, Los Angeles has an OPS of .870 this season. San Francisco ranks 21st with an OPS of .660.
When the Dodgers allow at least one home run, they are 6-3. When the Giants allow one or more homers, they have a 1-5 record.
