One Last Stop in San Francisco

Hyun-jin Ryu (13-7, 3.03) vs. Matt Cain (8-9, 4.06)

Dodgers Lineup:

The Dodgers finish up their final regular season road trip with a three-game set in Frisco. These games might have been a divisional title showdown, but the Giants being so bad and the Dodgers being early clinchers ensure that we will see more of Nick Buss. Maybe the Dodgers will pay back their enemies by scoring 19 runs at AT&T Park like the pumpkin colored foes did at Dodger Stadium in the recent historic disaster of a game. The Giants will still come out to try to spoil the Dodgers fun. Even though the Dodgers are focusing in on October and the Giants are already turning the page to Spring 2014, I’m sure the San Franciscan dark ones will try to be the last thorn in the Dodgers side for the season.

The Dodgers are just trying to stay healthy or get healthy. A horrific injury to Manny

Hyun-jin Ryu should start game three for the Dodgers in the NLDS. Photo: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Machado of the O’s really raised the concern for late season injuries. Don Mattingly has already said that Hanley Ramirez will only play in a few games during these last series. Andre Ethier may be able to start on Tuesday, and it seems like a good time for Andre to get a few games in to test his ankle and ready for the NLDS. Assuming all the outfielders are healthy, my starting three for game one of the NLDS would be Yasiel Puig in right field, Matt Kemp in center field, and Andre Ethier in left field. Mattingly will most likely play the matchups I would assume.

I’m getting ahead of myself here, but the season is quickly coming to a close. After the Dodgers finish up north, they will return home for the final series of the season against Colorado.

Hyun-jin Ryu will go to the mound for the Dodgers for his 29th start of the year on Friday night.

Matt Cain will face the Dodgers for the fifth time this season.

Ryu will be making his case to be the Dodger’s third starter for the NLDS rotation which will have Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke headlining. Ryu has been fantastic in his rookie season thus far, and he is close to dipping below a 3.00 ERA for the year. Ryu has been pretty reliable as well. Reliable Ryu only briefly missed time with a stiff back. Ryu has lost his last two games. The last one being against Arizona, even though he only allowed 2 runs off 2 hits over 8 innings. Ryu has faced the Giants four times already this season, and he is 1-2 with a 2.81 ERA in those starts against the Giants. He has yet to surrender a homerun to those panda lovers. At AT&T Park the southpaw is 1-2 with a 4.26 ERA in 2 starts. Ryu will be looking for a win since he has yet to accomplish one in the month of September.

We have seen the human side of Matt Cain this season. Although he has pitched better in the second half, his season has not been as impressive as the previous. The quintessential Giant pitcher, Cain has won half as many games as last season but given up more runs already in less innings. He’s tied last year’s mark with 21 homeruns allowed already. Perhaps the Dodgers can add to that number during this series? His career-high is 22 homeruns allowed in a season which he gave up in both 2009 and 2010 interestingly enough. The right-hander is 5-9 with a 3.48 ERA against the Dodgers in his career (27 starts). The Dodgers have already faced Cain four times this season. He is 1-1 with a 3.97 ERA in those four games against the Blue Crew. In his last start against the Mets, Cain wasn’t involved in the decision after allowing 1 unearned run on 6 hits with 6 strikeouts and no walks over 7 2/3 innings of work. Cain hasn’t won since August 17th versus Miami. The last Dodger to hit a homerun against Cain was Andre Ethier back on October 1, 2012. Adrian Gonzalez hammers Cain, and he has hit 4 homeruns against him in the past.

The big storyline of the series seems to be Brian Wilson‘s return to San Francisco. He most likely will receive a smattering of boos and applause mixed together. While some Giants fans sure seem angry that he signed with the Dodgers, others still appreciate his contributions to the team while he was a Giant.

Tune into KCAL at 7:15 p.m. and come back after for the recap thread.

Go Blue!