Dodgers vs. Giants preview: Hyun-jin Ryu starts opener

The Dodgers open a three-game series against the Giants, and will send Hyun-jin Ryu to the mound in the opener at AT&T Park on Tuesday night in San Francisco.

Ryu looks for his 14th win of the season, and looks to continue his strong second half. He has had his ups and downs this season but for the most part Ryu has been fairly consistent for the entire year. He was 7-3 with a 3.09 ERA before the All-Star break and is 6-4 with a 2.94 ERA since.

His strikeout rate has been similar both before (19.3% of batters faced) and after the break (20.1%), but his walks have gone down. Before the break Ryu walks 8.1% of his batters faced, but since he has walked only 3.1% of batters. Ryu has eight walks in 10 starts since the break, and one of those was intentional. He has 51 strikeouts during that span.

In four starts against the Giants this season Ryu has struck out just 12 in 25⅔ innings, with nine walks and 30 hits allowed. San Francisco batters are hitting .300/.358/.360 against Ryu this season, though his ERA is just 2.81 against the Giants.

Ryu will try to stop Hunter Pence, who was 8-for-17 (.471) with five home runs and 12 RBI in the four-game series at Dodger Stadium from Sept. 12-15. Since that series Pence is 1-for-21 (.048) with four walks and seven strikeouts.

But Pence can continue his streak against the Dodgers in Tuesday's opener. He has homered in four straight games against them, and the last streak longer was by Eddie Mathews, who homered in five straight games in August 1960.

Notes

• Matt Cain is 1-1 with a 3.97 ERA in four starts against the Dodgers this season, though eight of his 11 runs allowed came in one start, on July 5 in San Francisco.
• Ryu is 1-3 with a 4.10 ERA in six starts this season on six or more days rest. Tuesday's start is on seven days rest.
• The Dodgers have four triples (Hanley Ramirez two, Dee Gordon, Juan Uribe) in six games at AT&T Park this season, one fewer than they have hit in 78 games at Dodger Stadium.
  
• The Dodgers are 35-35 against the National League West this season, including 26-12 since June 22. The Dodgers are 19-16 on the road within the division.
  

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m.

TV: KCAL

MLB Gameday