First Place Dodgers Fly Into Lion’s Den To Face Slumping Giants

The red hot first place Dodgers roll into the lion’s den riding high on a seven game winning streak. The boys in blue are raking the ball all across the world, setting off massive earthquakes from their destructive offense. Averaging six runs per game will do that. The Dodgers have been playing terrific Baseball. Extending their winning streak against the Giants would be so sweet.

Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

On the flip side of the coin, the slumping Giants have gotten off to a dreadful start. This is one of the worst starts for a defending World Series champion in recent memory. The Giants are 4-10, and a full six games behind the Dodgers. They just recently lost eight in a row, and have lost nine of their last ten games. Ouch!

The Giants have a lot of players out with injuries too. Two of their starting pitchers are on the disabled list. Matt Cain has a flexor strain, and Jake Peavy has a sore back. They are also without Hunter Pence, who fractured his forearm in spring training. I feel no sympathy for them whatsoever. Them and their disgusting championships. I wish the Giants nothing but failures.

Dodgers Lineup @ San Francisco

Rollins SS

Puig RF

Gonzalez 1B

Kendrick 2B

Grandal C

Crawford LF

Uribe 3B

Pederson CF

Anderson P

Brett Anderson-0-1 vs. Tim Lincecum-0-1

Game Time 7:15 PM

So the Giants really stink right now. As Jason pointed out, they’re not hitting at all. Their pitching is ailing, and there are no reinforcements on the way. The Giants are so desperate that on April 7th, they signed former Dodger and former Giant Kevin Correia. He’s pitching in the minors, but they could be one more injury away from having to use him in the major league rotation. We can only hope, nay pray that we see Kevin Correia pitching in their rotation. A Giant’s rotation of Correia, Roberto Hernandez, and Joe Blanton (Bumton) would be a dream come true for any Dodger fan. Our dream of seeing the worst pitcher in Baseball (Blanton) pitching in a Giant’s uniform will come to fruition one of these days. I hope. 

Live Feed

FanSided

The big question for the Dodgers will be, will Yasiel Puig be in the lineup or not? I think it will be a game time decision and depend on whether he can get loose enough before the game. Puig has had a tight hamstring since Monday the 13. Since then he has missed four games, and hasn’t played since Saturday evening, when he was noticeably limping.

The thing is, Puig absolutely crushes tonight’s starter Tim Lincecum. What is Puig hitting against Lincecum?

Puig vs. Lincecum- .571 (8 for 14) 2 doubles, 2 triples, .647 OBP, 1.647 OPS against

Yeah that’s what Puig is hitting against Timmy. Those are pretty amazing numbers. We all remember his three triple game from last season. Two of those were off of Lincecum. We’ll get to the Dodger’s numbers against Lincecum in a minute.

Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports

The Dodgers will be starting Brett Anderson. The big left hander is 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA in eleven innings of work this season. He’s allowed just four earned runs, struck out seven and walked two. He lasted only five innings in his last start against Seattle, so he’ll have to try and make it past the fifth inning tonight. Regardless, the Dodger bullpen will be standing by.

Anderson is 0-2 with a 5.45 ERA in three career starts against the Giants. Both losses came at At&t Park as well. How do the current Giants fare against Anderson? The numbers look good. Anderson has limited the Giants to a .238 (5 for 21) average against. Nobody has hit a home run against him, and he has allowed just one walk.

The Dodgers have faced Lincecum many times over the years, and he is an old familiar foe. The Giants placed Lincecum back into the rotation this season, and so far he has performed well. He is 0-1 but with a 2.25 ERA in two starts. He’s allowed just three earned runs and struck out nine. However Lincecum is not the same pitcher he used to be, when he was a Cy Young winner.

He is 9-7 with a 3.38 ERA in 24 starts against the Dodgers. He has struck out 152 in 156 innings pitched. The Dodgers are batting .245 (65 for 265) with five home runs and 24 runs batted in against him. Andre Ethier, and Juan Uribe have both hit two home runs.

The Giants are just 1-6 at home this year. Even though they’ve been pretty bad thus far, we should never take the defending champions lightly.

Stacie will have the recap after the game. Come over here after the game to read about the Dodger’s success, and the Giants continued misery. Hopefully the Giants lose 100 games this year, and their fans will be miserable.

Let’s get that great 8 in a row! Go Blue!