If you’re a Dodger player you should be down right giddy today.
You’re one win away from wrapping up your second straight NL West Division crown, you can claim it at the hands of the San Francisco Giants, a.k.a. the team you hate about as much as you love putting on a uniform, and you'll send out only the best pitcher on the planet to pull it off.
The Dodgers hold a 4 ½ game lead with four to play. A win Wednesday and the division is theirs. A loss, and the Giants still have a chance, albeit a slim one, to snatch it away by winning their remaining four games and the Dodgers losing their last three.
To cease that scenario from coming to fruition, Don Mattingly will send his ace Clayton Kershaw to the mound. The left-hander will go for a Major League leading 21st win. Kershaw hasn’t lost a game in over a month, and even in that 3-2 loss to Milwaukee on August 16 he pitched a complete game.
This year he’s 2-0 against the Giants with a 1.88 ERA in 24 innings pitched. He’s also done a number on the Giants big three of Buster Posey, Pedro Sandoval and Hunter Pence. They’re combined career splits against Kershaw: .182/.200/.228 with one home run and 13 RBIs.
In the Giants dugout, Bruce Bochy will tie his life line for a division title to the 39-year-old right arm of Tim Hudson.
Let’s just say he’s struggling. Hudson is 9-12 on the season, having lost his last three starts. His ERA in those games is 10.54.
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But, those numbers don't paint a fair picture of his year. Early in the season Hudson looked like his old Oakland A’s self. After beating the Washington Nationals June 12, He was 7-2 with a 1.88 ERA and was the perfect veteran complement to Giants ace Madison Bumgardner.
But, his age has seemed to catch up to his arm. He went seven innings in that June 12 start. In 17 starts since, he’s only managed to reach the seventh four times.
Facing the Dodgers won’t do much to boost his confidence. In Hudson’s seven innings pitched against them this season, Dodger hitters have pounded him with a .457 batting average and eight runs scored. Adrian Gonzalez has feasted off Hudson in his career hitting .417 (10 for 24) with two homers and five RBI’s.
The teams have played each other even to this point with nine wins and nine loses.
A 10th win for the Dodgers will give them their 14th NL West title since the division was created in 1969.
The 10th win for the Giants will keep their title hopes alive at least one more day.
