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Sizing up Dodgers, Giants ahead of key series
- Updated: August 22, 2016
This is the way the Dodgers should send Vin Scully out. They’re fighting with the Giants for a title, just like they did in their great race in 1951.
That was Scully’s second year working alongside Red Barber in Brooklyn, and it ended with heartbreak for the Dodgers when Bobby Thomson hit “The Shot Heard Round the World” off Ralph Branca. Who knows what this year’s back-and-forth race for the National League West holds.
With six weeks left in the season, Los Angeles is one game ahead of San Francisco in the division, and the two rivals meet nine times, beginning with a three-game series at Dodger Stadium from Tuesday-Thursday.
This is an even-numbered year, of course, and that means the Giants are expecting to find a way to battle their way to the World Series, no matter who stands in their way. Yet it’s the Dodgers who have a chance to win their fourth consecutive division title, this time under rookie manager Dave Roberts.
Scully’s 67-year career in the broadcast booth will end when Los Angeles’ season is over. Here’s a look at how the teams match up:
Rotation While the Dodgers were seriously improvising since long before Clayton Kershaw’s back started acting up, the Giants haven’t had much about which to complain. They not only have had Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija lined up since Opening Day, but they added lefty Matt Moore at the Aug. 1 non-waiver Trade Deadline.
This feels like a big advantage for San Francisco, but it hasn’t really been due to the work of Los Angeles starters Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir. Both teams have depth issues, but Deadline acquisition Rich Hill will finally make his first start for the Dodgers on Wednesday. Kershaw, the ultimate trump card, is also working his way back toward the mound, and he is fully capable of making a handful of difference-making starts.
Edge: Giants, but not by as much as you’d think.
Bullpen You know the old narrative? The one about Los Angeles not being able to get leads to Kenley Jansen? That isn’t really holding. Joe Blanton, Pedro Baez and Adam Liberatore have turned the bullpen into a strength for Roberts. All bets are off if Jansen bolts as a free agent after the season, but that’s beside the point.
Unfortunately for San Francisco, …
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