Third Times The Charm: Another Clayton Kershaw vs. Madison Bumgarner Fight

Are the Dodgers ever going to score again? It seems like they might never again. With Madison Bumgarner on the mound today, I wouldn’t bet on it. The Dodgers are in the worst slump I have seen in recent years. Or at least since the 2012 season. The club hasn’t scored a run in their last 23 innings. Their last run came at home last Sunday in the fourth inning of their 1-0 win over Colorado. This is so frustrating.

There isn’t much that can be done about it. Although moving Joc Pederson and Jimmy Rollins down in the order would help. I doubt Don Mattingly will do it though. After all Joc is hitting just .236, and Rollins is batting .192. Yes, Joc has hit ten home runs, and draws a lot of walks. He’s just not hitting much of late. Rollins hasn’t hit at all the entire season. It is hard to score runs when your top two hitters in the order are not hitting or getting on base.

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Dodgers Lineup @ San Francisco-

Pederson CF

Hernandez SS

Kendrick 2B

Gonzalez 1B

Turner 3B

Van Slyke RF

Guerrero LF

Ellis C

Kershaw P

Clayton Kershaw-2-2 vs. Madison Bumgarner-4-2

Game Time – 12:45 PM

I would bet dollars to donuts we see Mattingly’s horrendous all righty lineup again against Bumgarner. That means no Adrian Gonzalez, no Joc, no Yasmani Grandal. I bet Enrique Hernandez will be in center field again. Justin Turner will be playing at first, and A.J. Ellis will be behind the plate. Of course it probably won’t matter much against Bumgarner. Still, if you’re going to get shutout for the third consecutive game, I would rather do it with my best hitters in the lineup and not the B-team squad.

What makes this even worse is that the club can’t beat the Giants this year. They’ve now lost 6 of 8 games to the Giants in 2015, and are 0-5 at San Francisco. Losing in general is one thing, but losing this badly to the Giants is just an embarrassment. The Dodgers will try and score a run in their final game of the series at At&t Park. For the third time this season, Clayton Kershaw will face Madison Bumgarner.

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This is the third time the two heavyweights have battled this year. Clayton Kershaw is 0-1 with a no-decision in those fights. In the first round, Kershaw gave up two earned runs on three hits over six frames, and whiffed nine on April 22. In the second round, he gave up two earned runs on seven hits across seven innings with eight whiffs in a 2-1 loss on April 28.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Kershaw struck out ten in his last start against Colorado, which was his 100 win of his career. That improved his record to 2-2. Overall he has a 4.24 ERA, and has struck out 66 in 51 innings and walked 14. Of course we know that Kershaw normally destroys the Giants. Over his career he is 14-6 with a 1.51 ERA and 208 strikeouts against the Giants with four shutouts. At At&T Park, Kershaw has been a beast. There he has posted an 8-2 record with a 0.97 ERA in 12 starts. He has only allowed ten earned runs in 92.2 innings at San Francisco. Here’s how the Giants hit against Kershaw. Spoiler alert, they don’t.

Speaking of dominating, Bumgarner has done the same against the Dodgers. He is 12-5with a 2.46 ERA in 18 starts. On April 22 he allowed two earned runs on six hits over 6.1 innings with six whiffs. That was the no-decision. In the April 28 win, he allowed one earned runs on five hits across eight innings with nine strikeouts in a 2-1 San Francisco win. Overall Bumgarner is 4-2 with a 3.20 ERA in eight starts. He’s whiffed 46 and walked just 8 batters. He has given up six home runs though. The Dodgers hit just .204 (47 for 230) against MadBum with four home runs. Juan Uribe hits him the best, with a .306 (11 for 36) average with a home run. Justin Turner is hitting .280 with two home runs in 26 plate appearances.

Adrian Gonzalez is hitting just .114 against Bumgarner. I don’t care though, he better be in the lineup. Who am I kidding? I know he won’t be. I will be at work during the game, but will be listening in on radio. Adrian will provide the recap after the game.

Will the Dodgers ever bust out of this slump? It seems like it is never going to end. Please end this insanity Dodgers. I don’t know how many more shutouts I can take. Something has to give at some point.

Please score Dodgers.

Go Blue! Defeat SF!