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Expect a packed house at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night, as the Dodgers open up a series with the rival Giants. Clayton Kershaw is in search of his 20th win, and he faces off with Tim Lincecum for the fourth time this season. Kershaw is looking for his fourth win against Lincecum this year, and his fifth win overall against the Giants.
Per Mark Simon of ESPN, the last Dodger to beat the Giants five times in one season was Don Newcombe, who was 5-2 for the Brooklyn Dodgers in nine games (eight starts) against the New York Giants in 1951. Newcombe was in line for a sixth win, on October 3, until Russ Hodges made the worst call in baseball history. The last Dodger pitcher to go 5-0 against the Giants was Vic Lombardi in 1946.
In five starts against the Giants this season, Kershaw has allowed five runs. Total. Four of those runs are earned, and they came in one start, on May 18. The Dodgers lost that game on May 18, though Kershaw got a no-decision, and they haven't lost a Kershaw home start since.
Kershaw is 7-0 in his last nine starts at Dodger Stadium, allowing a total of seven runs, with 10 unintentional walks and 70 strikeouts. On the season Kershaw has made 15 starts at home, and he is 11-1 with a 1.72 ERA. The Dodgers are 13-2 in those 15 starts.
Kershaw has two chances left this year to avoid this list, the list of Dodger pitchers to win exactly 19 games in one season:
| Dodgers With Exactly 19 Wins, Single Season | |||
| Pitcher | Year | W-L | Chances at 20 |
| Orel Hershiser | 1985 | 19-3 | 1 (in relief) |
| Fernando Valenzuela | 1982 | 19-13 | 3 |
| Burt Hooton | 1978 | 19-10 | 1 |
| Andy Messersmith | 1975 | 19-14 | 0 |
| Don Sutton | 1974 | 19-9 | 0 |
| Don Sutton | 1972 | 19-9 | 0 |
| Sandy Koufax | 1964 | 19-5 | 0 |
| Don Drysdale | 1963 | 19-17 | 1 |
| Don Newcombe | 1950 | 19-11 | 4 (2 in relief) |
| Preacher Roe | 1950 | 19-11 | 1 |
| Whit Wyatt | 1942 | 19-7 | 0 |
| Burleigh Grimes | 1918 | 19-9 | -- |
| Rube Marquard | 1917 | 19-12 | -- |
| Jeff Pfeffer | 1915 | 19-14 | -- |
| Oscar Jones | 1903 | 19-14 | -- |
| Frank Kitson | 1902 | 19-13 | -- |
| Frank Kitson | 1901 | 19-11 | -- |
| Doc McJames | 1899 | 19-15 | -- |
| Brickyard Kennedy | 1895 | 19-12 | -- |
| Ed Stein | 1893 | 19-15 | -- |
| Adonis Terry | 1884 | 19-35 | -- |
| Source: Baseball-Reference.com | |||
There aren't complete game logs available prior to 1919.
The two 19-game winners with the most shots at win number 20 were Newcombe and Valenzuela. Newcombe pitched 10 innings on the final day of the season against the Phillies, needing a win to force a playoff with the Whiz Kids. However, Dick Sisler's three-run home run in the 10th off Newcombe gave the Phillies the pennant.
Valenzuela had three chances at his 20th win in 1982. He didn't pitch poorly over those final three starts (nine runs, seven earned, in 20 innings) but didn't pick up another win. Maybe he was tired; Valenzuela made 37 starts in 1982 and averaged 7.70 innings per outing. His 285 innings have been topped only six times in baseball since then, but not once since 1987. No Dodger pitcher has started more than 35 games since Fernando's 37 in 1982.
Lineups
| Giants | Dodgers | |||
| CF | Torres | SS | Gordon | |
| 2B | Keppinger | 2B | Sellers |
|
| RF | Beltran | CF | Kemp | |
| 3B | DeRosa | LF | Rivera |
|
| 1B | Pill | 1B | Loney | |
| SS | Cabrera | 3B | Miles |
|
| LF | Christian | RF | Sands | |
| C | Stewart | C | Barajas | |
| P | Lincecum | P | Kershaw | |
Hardware For The Bison
Matt Kemp has been voted the winner of the 2011 Roy Campanella Award, the annual award given to the Dodger who "best exemplifies the spirit and leadership of the late Hall of Fame catcher." The award is voted on by Dodgers players and coaches, and will be presented to Kemp before Wednesday's game by Campanella's daughter, Joni Campanella Roan.
This is the sixth year of the award, which has also been won by Jamey Carroll (2010), Juan Pierre (2009), James Loney (2008), Russell Martin (2007), and Rafael Furcal (2006).
Congratulations
Mike Petriello might be too busy to write for Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness or Baseball Prospectus soon, as he announced today that he is engaged to be married. Best wishes to Mike and Emilie.
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Game Time: 7:10 p.m.
TV: KCAL