San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Pick & Prediction JULY 25th 2024
Preview and Prediction
The loyal supporters are anticipated to be in full voice Thursday afternoon when Los Angeles southpaw Clayton Kershaw makes his first appearance of the 2024 season as the Dodgers finish a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants.
Kershaw was absent for the first four months of the campaign after undergoing shoulder surgery in the offseason, addressing an injury that plagued him throughout 2023. Despite the discomfort and a noticeable decrease in velocity, Kershaw still managed to achieve a 13-5 record and a 2.46 ERA in 24 starts last year.
However, it all caught up to him in the opening game of the National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, where he surrendered six runs and failed to make it out of the first inning. The Diamondbacks used this momentum to sweep the series in three games.
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Determined not to let his illustrious career with the Dodgers end on a sour note, Kershaw signed a one-year contract to return to Los Angeles for his 17th season at the age of 36.
"With Clayton, he is overflowing with joy to be able to participate again," stated Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. "I believe it will be an emotional moment for him, to simply get back to playing.
"I will keep a close eye on him and may have a conversation with him, but he has been through this many times before. I think we all just want him to pitch well."
Kershaw has faced the Giants 59 times and started in 57 of those games, making them the team he has played against the most. He boasts a 26-16 record against them with a 2.01 ERA and has struck out 402 batters in 393 1/3 innings.
The Dodgers' five-game winning streak came to an end on Wednesday with an 8-3 defeat against the Giants. Matt Chapman hit a home run and drove in two runs for San Francisco, while Heliot Ramos and Mike Yastrzemski also contributed with two RBIs each.
Los Angeles failed to record a hit in five innings against Giants left-hander Robbie Ray, who was making his first start in 16 months. Chris Taylor finally broke the drought with two outs in the seventh inning, but was forced to leave the game due to a groin injury.
On Thursday, the Giants will hand the ball to right-hander Logan Webb (7-8, 3.59), who was moved up in the rotation this week. Webb holds a 1-1 record with a 3.78 ERA in three starts against the Dodgers this season.
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In his career, Webb has a 4-6 record with a 3.92 ERA in 15 starts against Los Angeles.
Although San Francisco rookie Tyler Fitzgerald's five-game homer streak came to an end on Wednesday, he still managed to hit a double and score the go-ahead run for the Giants in the fourth inning. Following Ray's impressive performance, four Giants relievers held the Dodgers to just two runs on five hits over four innings.
"It's the name on the back that takes the mound for a game and you just gain confidence from," said Giants manager Melvin about Ray's stellar performance on Wednesday. "We've been waiting for this for a while, and I know he was pretty pumped up about being in there."
Giants rookie left-hander Erik Miller struck out Shohei Ohtani for the fifth time in five career at-bats on Wednesday.
San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers Recap JUL 25TH 2024
Clayton Kershaw went four innings in his season debut, Nick Ahmed hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers finished off a 6-4 victory over the visiting San Francisco Giants on Tuesday afternoon.
Kershaw gave up two runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts in his first outing since he was roughed up in last year's National League Division Series. The three-time Cy Young Award winner underwent shoulder surgery in the offseason.
Enrique Hernandez had three hits with two RBIs, while Shohei Ohtani followed Ahmed's home run with one of his own as the Dodgers finished the season series against the rival Giants by winning nine of 13 games.
Heliot Ramos had three hits with an RBI for the Giants, while rookie Tyler Fitzgerald continued to produce with an RBI triple and a run scored. Fitzgerald had his five-game home-run streak snapped Wednesday.
Right-hander Logan Webb gave up four runs on nine hits over five innings with three walks and four strikeouts as the Giants fell to 2-5 since the All-Star break.
The win went to Blake Treinen (5-2), who came on with one out in the top of the eighth and gave up a singled to Jorge Soler that tied the game at 4-4. Treinen then benefitted from the Dodgers' homers in the bottom of the inning off losing pitcher Tyler Rogers (1-4).
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Gavin Lux walked, went to second base on a ground ball and scored on Hernandez's single.
The Giants moved in front 2-1 on four consecutive hits to open the third inning, with Fitzgerald hitting an RBI triple to left field and Ramos following with an RBI single.
Hernandez delivered an RBI double and Austin Barnes followed with an RBI single to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning. Barnes had two hits while extending his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games.
The Dodgers made it 4-2 in the fifth inning when Andy Pages scored as Jason Heyward grounded into a double play.
The Giants tied the score 4-4 in the eighth inning on an RBI double from Michael Conforto against Dodgers left-hander Alex Vesia, and Soler's hit off Treinen, with both runs charged to Vesia.
Ahmed's home run, in his second game with the Dodgers, came against the team that released him earlier this month. Ohtani's was his 31st, which extended his National League lead.
Dodgers right-hander Brent Honeywell pitched the ninth inning for his first career save.