With Dodgers & Giants, low scores are the norm

After Monday night’s low-scoring thriller between the Dodgers and Giants, we see on Tuesday a pitching rematch of a 1-0 game on Aug. 24.

Rich Hill makes his fifth start as a Dodger, having allowed four runs in his first four, with 28 strikeouts and three walks in 28⅓ innings. He allowed none in that Aug. 24 start, his Dodgers debut, a 1-0 LA win.

Johnny Cueto was on the other end of that result on Aug. 24, allowing only a solo home run to Justin Turner. Cueto has been magnificent in his return to the National League, 16-5 with a 2.86 ERA with 181 strikeouts in 207⅓ innings.

That 1-0 game on Aug. 24, and Monday night’s 2-1 game, are not new to the recent years of this Dodgers-Giants rivalry.

Since the start of the 2010 season, 24 of the 125 meetings between the two teams — that’s roughly 1 in 5, 19.2% — have ended with the winning team scoring one or two runs. The Dodgers have won 13 of those games, the Giants 11 during that span.

In 2016, the Dodgers have won two such games, the Giants one (2-1 on June 12 in San Francisco).

All of MLB since the start of 2010 has seen the winning team score one or two runs in just 4.6% of games, roughly 1 in 22.

So if Tuesday night is another low-scoring affair, it won’t be unexpected.

Game info

Dodgers (85-65) vs. Giants (79-71)

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA, ESPN2

The ESPN2 broadcast, with Jon Sciambi, Rick Sutcliffe and Doug Glanville, will not be blacked out in Los Angeles or San Francisco markets. It is a full national telecast.