Tonight at 10:15 p.m. ET, two National League West teams slug it out as the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers (90-66) visit the San Francisco Giants (72-84) in the opening tilt of a three-game set at AT&T Park. The game can be live streamed here. Dodgers fans can tune into the action on the radio at 570 Fox Sports L.A, while Giants fans can access it by tuning their dials to KNBR 680.
Los Angeles clinched its first division title and playoff berth since 2009 this season while the Giants won't get a chance to defend their World Series championship in the playoffs this year as the team had a disappointing season.
Hyun-jin Ryu (13-7, 3.03 ERA) gets the start for the Dodgers while the Giants will counter with Matt Cain (8-9, 4.06).
Ryu is looking to end a skid as the rookie has lost four of his last five starts and hasn't recorded a win in September, a month where he's gone 0-2 after missing time with a stiff back. Ryu is 1-2 through four starts against the Giants this year with a 2.81 ERA.
While Ryu's opponent Cain has had somewhat of a disappointing season, he's had a strong second half posting a 2.34 ERA in 10 starts since the All-Star break while also going 3-3. He held the Dodgers to one run through seven innings in his last time out. One person he'll have to try to get out is Los Angeles first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who is 20-for-67 for a .299 average against Cain in his career with four doubles, four homers and 13 RBIs.
On the season, Gonzalez is hitting .295 and has gone deep 21 times while racking up 98 RBIs through 151 games played. Gonzalez's 98 RBIs ranks him fifth in the NL.
Dodgers reliever Brian Wilson returns to San Francisco for the first time since joining the rival Dodgers earlier this summer. Wilson has appeared in 15 games for the Dodgers this season and has posted a 2-1 record with a 0.79 ERA and ten strikeouts through 11.1 innings. Wilson recorded the final out for San Francisco in its 2010 World Series win, but wasn't there when the team won it all last year due to him having Tommy John surgery in April. Wilson spent seven seasons with the Giants from 2006-12.
Despite the fact that the bearded reliever was a fan favorite in San Francisco, when he returns to AT&T Park sporting the rival blue and white jersey, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly expects a bit of a mixed reaction.
"I'm sure with any personality that goes to a rival, it's not going to be a warm and fuzzy reaction," Mattingly told MLB.com. "I don't understand that, though. They could have signed him. They let him go. It's not like he decided to leave. It'll probably be half and half. A lot of people appreciated what he was able to accomplish, and there will be a mix of traitor talk."
Wilson faced his former team last week during a four-game set at Dodgers Stadium, and was credited with a win in the series opener and then got the only two batters he faced out in the final game of the series.
"It was fun," Giants catcher Buster Posey told MLB.com of the experience of facing an old teammate last week. "You look forward to challenges against good pitchers, and he's one of them. Once the at-bat started, it felt like a normal at-bat."
A player to look out for on the Giants is outfielder Huner Pence, who is fifth in the National League with 174 hits on the year.
The Dodgers boast an exciting player of their own in outfielder and Cuban defector Yasiel Puig, who ignites the team and has exploded on the scene in his rookie season with a .327 batting average, 18 homers, 21 doubles and 41 RBIs on the season.
The Dodgers will look to finish the season strong as the team heads to the postseason while the Giants will look to knock off their division rivals at home.
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