Dodgers Giants Game Three Preview

After winning game one in the series and losing game two, the Dodgers are looking to win the series today at Dodger Stadium.

Last night was a tough game to watch. The Dodgers offense was pretty much non-existent as Johnny Cueto shut them down and Scott Kazmir could not find his rhythm. Hopefully they can step up both their offense and starting pitching today.

The Dodgers are handing the ball to Kenta Maeda and this will be Maeda’s first start against the Giants. Maeda has faced the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks in his first two starts so this will be his third NL West team to face. Maeda is coming into tonight’s game having pitched 12 innings for the Dodgers in two starts and has an ERA of 0.00. That’s right! Maeda has yet to allow an earned run and Dodgers fans are hoping he can keep that up tonight. He has been excellent in his first two starts with the team and seems to be making the transition from professional ball in Japan to the MLB very well. He also has a homerun under his belt, which is one of my favorite stats about Maeda so far this season. He can not only command the mound, but swing the bat!

The Giants are sending Jeff Samardzija to the mound. Samardzija is in his first year with the Giants after leaving the White Sox last year. He is coming into tonight’s game after giving up five earned runs and five walks in his first two starts with the team, which leaves him with a 3.38 ERA. Samardzija has moved around a lot the past few seasons. After seven seasons with the Chicago Cubs, he got traded to the Oakland A’s in 2014 and played in 16 games for them. Then the next year he got traded to the Chicago White Sox, where he pitched in 32 games and ended the season with a 4.96 ERA. Now with the Giants, it will be interesting to see how he does this season. Samardzija has not faced the Dodgers much since his previous teams were not in the NL West. Either way, the boys in blue will walk up to the plate knowing that Samardzija primarily throws a sinker and cutter.

Here is tonight’s lineup. It is almost identical to last nights lineup, except Yasiel Puig is getting the start in right instead of Trayce Thompson who started last night. After hitting his first homerun of the season, hopefully Corey Seager can keep his bat hot for tonight’s game. It looks like going forward this will be Dave Roberts main starting lineup for the team.

First pitch is scheduled for 5:05PM and will be shown on ESPN.