The Dodgers Head North Looking to Find Their Groove Offensively

The Dodgers head north to battle the Giants in San Francisco, coming off a sweep at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Dodgers and Giants are set to for another battle this time it will be in San Francisco where the Dodgers have struggled.  On top of that, the Dodgers offense is searching for answers after scoring one run total in the last two games of their series with the Dbacks.  The Dodgers and Giants will hopefully get their Friday night game in but the forecast calls for over an inch of rain.  In all likelihood, it will turn into a doubleheader on Saturday.

The Giants somehow managed to split the series with the Dodgers last weekend despite scoring only two runs in four games.  Joe Panik beat the Dodgers two straight days so the Dodgers will look to shut him down.  The Giants found their offense on Wednesday as they scored 10 runs in a game that was started by Mariners’ ace Felix Hernandez.  The Dodgers hope to come away with a series win and start trending in the right direction.  If they find their offense it will be a very good weekend in San Francisco.

Game One: Kenta Maeda (1-0, 0.00 ERA) Vs. Derek Holland (0-1, 5.40 ERA)

Game one of the series may not get played until Saturday if mother nature has anything to do with it.  Whatever day it is played, Kenta Maeda will get the ball facing the Giants for the second straight start.  Maeda was very sharp in his first start as he struck out 10 hitters in only five innings.  While more innings would be nice, the Dodgers have to be happy with the way Maeda attacked the Giant’s hitters in his first start.  Pitching out of the bullpen seems to have made Kenta a much more aggressive pitcher in attacking batters

Derek Holland wasn’t horrible for the Giants in his first start as he allowed three runs in five innings.  With the lefty Holland on the mound, the Dodgers will most likely start Kiké Hernandez at second base again with Logan Forsythe at third base.  Forsythe is currently hitting below .100 so a left-hander on the mound may be just what he needs since he hit much better off southpaws last season.  Kiké has yet to homer but Holland seems like the perfect matchup for him to get his first home run of the season.

Clayton Kershaw (0-2, 2.25 ERA) Vs. Ty Blach (1-1, 5.79 ERA)

It’s been a bizarre first week for the Dodgers and making it even weirder is the fact that Clayton Kershaw is 0-2.  It’s not like Clayton is pitching bad, he has only given up three runs in two starts.  The offense has let Kershaw down in both of his starts.  There is really nothing Kershaw can except continuing to put up quality starts and hope the offense picks him up.  Buster Posey is the Giant who has had the most success against Kershaw as he has hit three home runs against him.

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Ty Blach did his best Madison Bumgarner impersonation as he shut the Dodgers down on opening day.  He did not allow a single run and allowed just three hits in five innings.  His changeup kept the Dodgers off balance so they will need to sit back and hammer anything left over the plate.  The Mariners did just that on Tuesday as they clobbered Blach for ten hits and six runs in just over four innings.  Chris Taylor is the only Dodger hitter who has homered off Blach before so he will look to do damage from the leadoff spot.

Cody Bellinger is another Dodger who has had success against Blach hitting .300 against him in limited plate appearances.  This is yet another game where Logan Forsythe will have a chance to get back on track and back to his lefty-mashing ways.  Blach is a very good offspeed pitcher, but he doesn’t throw hard so the Dodgers should be able to scratch some runs across the plate in their second matchup.  Kiké, Forsythe, and Kemp will look to carry the offense against multiple southpaws this weekend with Justin Turner still on the mend.

Next: Three Dodgers prospects to keep an eye on

Although win-loss records are not very important when it comes to judging a starting pitcher, it would still be very odd if Kershaw started the season 0-3.  Kershaw has owned the Giants in his career holding them to a .195 average and 314 strikeouts in 42 games.  This would make it a bizarre season if the Giants beat him twice in a week.  Early on this season, Kershaw has made it a focal point to attack the outside part of the strike zone.  While it seems to be working, Kershaw allowed two home runs last start.  He will look to fix his home run problem and get in the win column for the first time in 2018.