Dodgers Giants Game Two Preview

The Dodgers look to keep their bats going in game two against the Giants.

Yesterday’s game was art. There needs to be a museum with Madison Bumgarner throwing his arms up asking “What The Truck*” hanging in a frame. Kenta Maeda labored, but ultimately got the win and helped the Dodgers move two games ahead of the Giants in the West.

Dodgers Starter

Rich Hill will make his long-awaited debut for the Dodgers today. Unless something happens in the next three hours, this will finally happen. I wrote way too many words on Hill here, so there’s not much more I can really say about him. His last official start was July 17th, but he didn’t throw a pitch as his blister came up during warm ups. The last time he threw a pitch in a major league game was July 7th, and he threw six innings of one-run ball in Houston.

Giants Starter

Johnny Cueto gets the ball for the Giants. Many believe the Dodgers should have signed Cueto in the offseason, but his 2016 has made people forget about his lingering arm issues and awful finish to 2015. Of the three aces signed in the offseason, Cueto was the biggest question mark. The Giants took the gamble, and he’s also been the best of the three by far.

Cueto owns a 2.90 ERA/3.06 FIP in 25 starts for the Giants. Most of his numbers are consistent with his career marks, but he’s lowered his walk rate. His 4.1 fWAR is sixth among qualified starters (Clayton Kershaw still leads with 5.5, but hasn’t thrown enough innings to qualify). Cueto has gone at least five innings in every start this season and has gone six 21 times.

Cueto has faced the Dodgers three times this season with mixed results. His first outing against them was weird, as the Dodgers scored five in the first off him. He shoved the rest of the way and finished with six runs in seven innings, but the Giants beat up on Scott Kazmir and won 9-6. In his other two starts, he’s allowed three runs in 15.1 innings, but lost his last start against the Dodgers.

LINEUP

Chase Utley returns to his leadoff spot. He pinch hit yesterday, but was taken out of the game with a lingering foot issue. Apparently that’s not a big deal.

Josh Reddick also returns after dealing with a finger issue for the last couple days. He probably would have sat against the lefty yesterday anyways, but against a righty he’s back in. He pinch hit yesterday as well and drew a walk.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 PST and will be shown on ESPN (out of market only).