Dodgers Dugout: Recapping the Dodgers-Giants season series

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and we are now in a 25-game sprint to the finish.

The Dodgers and Giants have played each other for the final time during the regular season but seem destined to meet in the NLDS. They played each other 19 times during the season, and this is the result:

Wins
Giants, 10
Dodgers 9

Runs
Dodgers 80
Giants 78

Batting Average
Giants, .226
Dodgers, .210

OB%
Giants, .310
Dodgers, .286

SLG%
Dodgers, .392
Giants, .390

Doubles
Giants, 38
Dodgers, 24

Homers
Dodgers, 29
Giants, 21

Walks
Giants, 69
Dodgers, 58

Strikeouts
Giants, 185
Dodgers, 172

Steals
Giants, 9
Dodgers, 6

Dodgers’ best hitters vs. Giants
Corey Seager, .556/.615/1.000 (5 for 9)
Austin Barnes, .391/.391/.783 (9 for 23)
AJ Pollock, .313/.371/.406 (10 for 32, 3 doubles)
Max Muncy, .284/.385/.672 (19 for 67, 8 homers)
Will Smith, .275/.393/.490 (14 for 51, 1 triple, 3 homers)
Matt Beaty, .258/.378/.487 (8 for 31, 1 double, 1 homer)

Worst hitters
Justin Turner, .203 (13 for 64, 1 double, 2 homers)
Chris Taylor, .189 (14 for 74, 3 homers)
Cody Bellinger, .042 (2 for 48, 1 homer)

Giants’ best hitters vs. Dodgers
Austin Slater, .394/.444/.667 (13 for 33, 2 homers)
Wilmer Flores, .341/.386/.561 (14 for 41, 2 homers)
LaMonte Wade Jr., .316/.435/.605 (12 for 38, 5 doubles, 2 homers)
Brandon Crawford, .300/.391/.525 (12 for 40, 6 doubles, 1 homer)
Buster Posey, .294/.400/.549 (15 for 51, 3 homers)
Evan Longoria, .259/.310/.519 (7 for 27, 1 double, 2 homers)

Worst hitters
Mauricio Dubon, .182 (4 for 22, 1 double, 1 homer)
Mike Yasztremski, .172 (11 for 64, 4 doubles, 2 homers)
Alex Dickerson, .136 (6 for 44)
Curt Casali, .000 (2 for 27, 1 double)

ERA
Dodgers, 3.64
Giants, 3.76

WHIP
Giants, 1.118
Dodgers, 1.248

Starting pitchers vs. Giants
Trevor Bauer, 2-0, 1.46 ERA
Walker Buehler, 3-1, 2.19 ERA
David Price, 0-1, 2.79 ERA
Julio Urías, 2-1, 3.38 ERA
Clayton Kershaw, 0-1, 7.50 ERA
Tony Gonsolin, 0-1, 8.10 ERA

Key relievers vs. Giants
Brusdar Graterol, 0.00 ERA (3.1 IP, 3 hits, 2 K’s)
Corey Knebel, 0.00 ERA (2 IP, 2 hits, 2 K’s)
Joe Kelly, 1.42 ERA (6.1 IP, 3 hits, 2 walks, 6 K’s)
Blake Treinen, 2.89 ERA (9.1 IP, 3 hits, 4 walks, 8 K’s)
Phil Bickford, 3.38 ERA (5.1 IP, 4 hits, 5 walks, 6 K’s)
Alex Vesia, 4.70 ERA (7.2 IP, 5 hits, 5 walks, 8 K’s)
Victor Gonzalez, 9.53 ERA (5.2 IP, 9 hits, 2 walks, 7 K’s)
Kenley Jansen, 12.15 ERA (6.2 IP, 10 hits, 8 walks, 10 K’s)

Starting pitches vs. Dodgers
Johnny Cueto, 1-0, 0.00 ERA
Logan Webb, 1-0, 2.25 ERA
Kevin Gausman, 1-1, 3.21 ERA
Alex Wood, 0-2, 4.76 ERA
Anthony DeSclafani, 0-3, 7.33 ERA

Key relievers vs. Dodgers
Dominic Leone, 0.00 ERA (6 IP, 2 hits, 1 walk, 7 K’s)
Tony Watson, 0.00 ERA (2 IP, 1 hit, 2 K’s)
Jarlin Garcia, 0.64 ERA (14 IP, 8 hits, 2 walks, 13 K’s)
Zack Littell, 1.54 ERA (11.2 IP, 4 hits, 4 walks, 13 K’s)
Jose Alvarez, 2.70 ERA (10 IP, 9 hits, 1 walk, 6 K’s)
Jake McGee, 3.00 ERA (9 IP, 8 hits, 1 walk, 7 K’s)
Tyler Rogers, 9.00 ERA (6 IP, 6 hits, 2 walks, 5 K’s)

Pinch-hitting

One weakness the Dodgers have had this season: pinch-hitting. Pinch-hitters are batting .204 this season.

Albert Pujols, .385 (10 for 26, 2 homers, 9 RBIs)
Austin Barnes, .368 (7 for 19, 2 doubles, 2 homers, 5 RBIs)
AJ Pollock, .333 (4 for 12, 2 RBIs)
Billy McKinney, .273 (3 for 11, 1 double, 2 RBIs)
Andy Burns, .250 (1 for 4)
Chris Taylor, .250 (1 for 4)
Keibert Ruiz, .200 (1 for 5, 1 homer, 1 RBI)
Sheldon Neuse, .200 (2 for 10, 1 homer, 1 RBI)
DJ Peters, .200 (1 for 5)
Steven Souza Jr., .200 (1 for 5)
Matt Beaty, .175 (7 for 40, 3 RBIs)
Will Smith, .125 (1 for 8, 1 homer, 4 RBIs)
Justin Turner, .125 (1 for 8, 1 homer, 1 RBI)
Luke Raley, .111 (1 for 9)
Edwin Rios, .000 (0 for 10)
Zack McKinstry, .000 (0 for 5)
Cody Bellinger, .000 (0 for 4)
Zach Reks, .000 (0 for 3)
Corey Seager, .000 (0 for 3)
Clayton Kershaw, .000 (0 for 2)
Gavin Lux, .000 (0 for 2)
Max Muncy, .000 (0 for 2)
Yoshi Tsutsugo, .000 (0 for 2)
Mookie Betts, .000 (0 for 1)
Trea Turner, .000 (0 for 2)

Matt Beaty’s wife speaks up

A lot of Dodgers fans were unhappy when Matt Beaty was sent to the minors. His wife, Jessica, joins you in your displeasure, posting this on their Dreams and Seams Facebook page:

“I have so much to say but then again not a lot at all.

“Matt’s on his way to OKC, and honestly, this was probably the most blindsided option yet.

“I’ll have my chance one day to tell our story, to realllly lay it all out there but for now, we keep trekking.

“We have some bada$$ friends who fought in Afghanistan, who still have friends who are still part of the evacuations and trying to process everything that is happening there. Our agent lives in New Orleans. Those things put baseball in perspective. Please pray for the residents of Louisiana and the service men and women, their families and the people of Afghanistan.”

Kenley Jansen

There was a fascinating story by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register last week, in which Kenley Jansen details how mental therapy has been a huge help to him. He started seeing a therapist after last year’s World Series, when he lost his closer role and watched as Julio Urías got the final outs of the title-clinching game.

“I finally accepted after the World Series that I need help,” Jansen said. “I need help, let’s start with mentally. This game is too hard. It can be too hard on you mentally.

“I think it’s a great thing. I would encourage athletes to do that more often because that was career-changing for me, I feel like. This game is going to be hard. Sometimes you’re going to get beat. But don’t get beat by mental fatigue.”

Next man up

Just what the Dodgers needed, another injured starter. David Price was scratched from his start last Friday because of a sore elbow, but he pitched Sunday. On the good news side, Tony Gonsolin started for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday, giving up a run and three hits in 2 1/3 innings. He could be activated this week depending on how his shoulder responds to the outing. Clayton Kershaw will pitch three innings for triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday and could be back soon.

Meanwhile, AJ Pollock strained his hamstring sliding into third base during Saturday’s game. He’s expected to miss at least two weeks. He was put on the injured list and pitcher Mitch White replaced him on the active roster, giving the Dodgers 16 pitchers, which seems like a lot.

NL West standings

San Francisco, 87-50, - -
Dodgers, 86-51, 1 GB
San Diego, 73-64, 14 GB
Colorado, 63-74, 24 GB
Arizona, 45-93, 42.5 GB

NL wild-card standings

Top two qualify for wild-card playoff game. Winner of that advances to NLDS to face the team with best record.

Dodgers, 86-51, +13
San Diego, 73-64

Cincinnati, 73-65, 0.5 GB
Philadelphia, 70-66, 2.5 GB
St. Louis, 69-66, 3 GB
New York, 69-68, 4 GB

The rest of the schedule

Who do the Dodgers and Giants play the rest of the way? Let’s take a look.

Dodgers

Home (12)

San Diego (6), Arizona (3), Milwaukee (3).

Away (13)

St. Louis (4), Cincinnati (3), Colorado (3), Arizona (3).

San Francisco

Home (13)

San Diego (7), Atlanta (3), Arizona (3).

Away (12)

Colorado (6), Chicago Cubs (3), San Diego (3).

What’s the Dodgers roster now?

It’s so hard to keep track of every move, so here’s the roster as of Sunday night. Rosters expanded to 28 players on Sept. 1

Pitchers (16)

Phil Bickford

Justin Bruihl (LHP)

Walker Buehler

Brusdar Graterol

Shane Greene

Kenley Jansen

Joe Kelly

Corey Knebel

Evan Phillips

David Price (LHP)

Max Scherzer

Blake Treinen

Julio Urías

Andrew Vasquez (LHP)

Alex Vesia (LHP)

Mitch White

Catchers (2)

Austin Barnes

Will Smith

Infielders (5)

Max Muncy

Albert Pujols

Corey Seager

Justin Turner

Trea Turner

Outfielders (5)

Cody Bellinger

Mookie Betts

Billy McKinney

Zach McKinstry

Chris Taylor

Injury report

Scott Alexander (10-day IL, left shoulder inflammation): Alexander has had shoulder problems all season.

Garrett Cleavinger (10-day IL, oblique strain): Both Alexander and Cleavinger have been described as being “a ways away” by Roberts.

Danny Duffy (60-day IL, left flexor strain): Duffy looked good in a bullpen session and could be back in mid-September.

Tony Gonsolin (10-day IL, right shoulder inflammation): Gonsolin pitched a rehab game and could be activated this week.

Clayton Kershaw (60-day IL, elbow inflammation): He makes a rehab start Tuesday, which will go a long way in determining when he returns.

AJ Pollock (10-day IL, right hamstring): He will be out at least two weeks.

Jimmie Sherfy (60-day IL, right elbow inflammation): He was transferred to the 60-day IL last week and probably won’t return this season.

Caleb Ferguson, Tommy Kahnle and Dustin May are all recovering from Tommy John surgery and are out the rest of this season. Jimmy Nelson had elbow surgery and is out for the rest of the season. Cole Hamels has an elbow injury and won’t pitch this season. Edwin Ríos had shoulder surgery and is also out for the rest of the season.

In case you missed it

Could Albert Pujols rejoin the Cardinals for an over-40 reunion in 2022? Fans hope so

Are Farhan Zaidi and the Giants set to have the last laugh over Dodgers?

Trevor Bauer’s paid administrative leave is extended by MLB for an eighth time

Up next

Monday: Dodgers (Max Scherzer, 12-4, 2.40 ERA) at St. Louis (Miles Mikolas, 0-1, 4.41 ERA ERA), 1:15 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Tuesday: Dodgers (TBD) at St. Louis (*J.A. Happ, 8-7, 6.20 ERA), 4:45 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Wednesday: Dodgers (TBD) at St. Louis (Adam Wainwright, 14-7, 2.91 ERA), 4:45 p.m., SportsNet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

Thursday: Dodgers (TBD) at St. Louis (*Kwang Hyun-Kim, 6-7, 3.53 ERA), 10:15 a.m., Sportsnet LA, AM 570, KTNQ 1020

*-left-handed

And finally

Vin Scully tells a story about Don Zimmer. Watch and listen here.