Hyun-jin Ryu starts as Dodgers hope to avoid sweep

The Dodgers look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Giants on Sunday night baseball on ESPN. Here's a look at the team and the series, in note form.

• Hyun-jin Ryu enters play on Sunday with 46 strikeouts, six behind Clayton Kershaw for the team lead, and 11 behind National League leader A.J. Burnett. If Ryu can match his career-high of 12 strikeouts, set in his last start on Tuesday, he will be the new league leader.
• Ryu's 46 strikeouts through his first six starts are the fourth most in Dodgers history, per Elias Sports Bureau. The only Dodgers with more strikeouts in their first six starts were Fernando Valenzuela (50, 1981), Hideo Nomo (49, 1995), and Orel Hershiser (47, 1984).
  
• Ryu has pitched at least six innings in all six of his starts. The last Dodger to open his career with a longer such streak was John Ely, with seven straight in 2010.
• Matt Cain pitched six scoreless innings against the Dodgers on opening day, but since then has allowed 26 runs in 28⅔ innings. Cain, who is still looking for his first win of 2013, has allowed nine home runs in his last four starts.
• Andre Ethier is a career .450/.478/.583 (27-for-60) hitter against Cain in his career, including 1-for-3 on opening day. Adrian Gonzalez, who has missed the last two games with neck pain, had hit .317/.389/.603 (20-for-63) with four home runs and eight walks against Cain.
• Dee Gordon on Saturday became the first Dodger with a triple, two stolen bases, two runs scored, and two runs batted in in a game since Devon White on Sept. 23, 1999. Since 1916, the only other Dodgers to do that in a game are Steve Sax (in 1983) and Willie Davis (twice, in 1962 and 1969).
  
• Jerry Hairston, who is hitting .500 (7-for-14) with a home run, a double, and two walks in his last five games, tweaked his groin in the fifth inning on Saturday night, but the more interesting story was his stitches above his right eye, for which the explanation sounded a lot like Jeff Kent washing his truck at first. Bill Shaikin of the LA Times explains:
  

  Hairston said he awoke in his hotel room in the middle of the night, tripped on a bag, and hit his head against the side of the desk.

  "I wish I had a really good story," he said. "Maybe I saved some dogs or something, or saved the day like Batman."

• The Dodgers are getting destroyed in their own division this season, with a 5-12 record against National League West teams. The Dodgers have lost five of their six series against divisional foes this season.
• Three of the Dodgers' last five series against the Giants have ended in a sweep, including two in San Francisco's favor.
• Per Elias, Friday and Saturday marked the first time in the Dodgers-Giants rivalry that the Giants hit walk-off home runs in consecutive games.

Game info

Time: 5 p.m.

TV: ESPN

MLB Gameday