Giants' Bumgarner to make third start since return vs. Dodgers (Jun 16, 2018)
LOS ANGELES -- The third start of Madison Bumgarner's return to the San Francisco Giants' rotation after a broken finger will take the left-hander to a mound where he knows success.
Bumgarner will square off with Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood in the middle game of a three-game series on Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
It is a venue Bumgarner knows well, having pitched there 18 times, 17 of which have been starts. He has a career 2.31 ERA in L.A. and gave up just one run in two starts in the Dodgers' home park last season.
Add in the fact that the rivalry game will be televised nationally and all the elements to shine appear to be in place for Bumgarner (0-1, 4.76 ERA), who showed his feisty side in an outing earlier this week at Miami when he was ejected upon departing the game.
"My stuff is good enough to get people out right now; I've just got to execute," Bumgarner told mlb.com after he was ejected for giving a piece of his mind to home-plate umpire Jeremie Rehak.
The mild-mannered Wood (1-5, 4.43) might be ready to show an edgier side as well. The left-hander has given up a combined 15 runs (13 earned) in his last three starts and has pitched just 11 innings in those outings.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has already been asked if Wood is in danger of losing his starting spot, but he remains confident in the All-Star from a year ago. But left-hander Rich Hill (blister) looks close to a return from the disabled list after a solid minor league rehab start and could possibly force Wood from the rotation.
To Wood's credit, he has remained confident, not sounding like a pitcher who needs to prove himself against the Giants on Saturday.
"There's a lot of baseball left to be played," Wood said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "I can promise you that, when we get down that stretch, I'll be playing my best baseball of the year."
As a team, the Dodgers (36-32) are doing just that. For a month, the defending National League champions have looked more like the team that roared into the 2017 World Series, only to lose in seven games to the Houston Astros.
The Dodgers will enter Saturday having won 10 of their 12 games in June while posting a 20-6 record since May 17. They hit two more home runs Friday and now have 32 in June, by far the most in baseball during the month. They lead the NL with 88 home runs this season.
When that 20-6 run began, the Dodgers were in fourth place in the NL West, eight games back, and the Giants were in third place, and four games back.
After the Dodgers' 3-2 victory over the Giants on Friday, L.A. was in second place, 2 1/2 games back, and the Giants (34-36) were in fourth place, 5 1/2 games back and just a half game in front of the last-place San Diego Padres.
Pablo Sandoval homered Friday night for the Giants, who fell to 3-5 on their three-city, 10-game road trip.
