Dodgers finish regular season in San Francisco

The Dodgers have the opportunity to win 106 games this season, which would be a new franchise record. The current record is 105 games, set by the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers. Whether or not the team manages to pull this off, it will have been a successful regular season for LA.

With three games left in the season, they have the best record and run differential in the National League. They lead the NL West by 21 games and have clinched home field advantage at least through the Championship Series.

On the other side, the San Francisco Giants aren’t having a great year. They are 26 games behind the Dodgers in the division and are five games under .500 before the final series of the season. Although this series is meaningless to the Giants season, it is their final opportunity to end the year on a good note and give skipper Bruce Bochy a great career ending.

Game one: Walker Buehler (13-4, 3.25 ERA) vs. Johnny Cueto (1-1, 2.57 ERA)

Friday, Sept. 27 - 7:15 p.m. PT // TV: SportsNet LA

Walker Buehler will pitch for the Dodgers to open the final regular season series on Friday. He was a little rocky in his last outing against Colorado, earning a loss for his six inning outing. He allowed four runs to score from five hits and three walks, including two homers. His last outing against the Giants, however, was a more pleasant experience — he held them scoreless for seven frames, only allowing five hits and one walk to get past him while dealing nine strikeouts.

As a lock to make the postseason roster, this will be his final start before gunning for the Commissioner’s Trophy.

Up against Buehler will be Johnny Cueto, who will make his fourth start of the year after returning from Tommy John surgery. He pitched well in his first two starts back, but was dinged up against the NL East champion Braves in his most recent outing. He surrendered four runs, two hits and five walks over four innings of work to earn his first loss of the year. He hasn’t faced the Dodgers this year, but Cueto is 7-8 with a 3.21 ERA in his career against LA.

Game two: Hyun-Jin Ryu (13-5, 2.41 ERA) vs. Logan Webb (2-2, 5.61 ERA)

Saturday, Sept. 28 - 1:05 p.m. PT // TV: SportsNet LA, KTLA

Hyun-Jin Ryu (AKA Korean Monster, AKA Baby Shark) will also be making his last regular season start of the year in San Francisco. He earned a win in his last outing, but it wasn’t exactly his cleanest performance. He went seven innings, giving up three runs from six hits, including two home runs. He did deal eight strikeouts, though, while also hitting his first career home run. So there’s always some good and some bad.

Ryu didn’t leave a good taste in the Giants’ mouth after the last time they faced him back in May. The Korean Monster only allowed SF to get one run on four hits over eight innings.

On the other side of the hill will be rookie pitcher Logan Webb. Webb made his major league debut on Aug. 17 in Phoenix, and has quickly found a groove. His most impressive outing was his most recent — holding the Braves to one run, two hits and two walks in six innings pitched. Webb has never faced the rival Dodgers.

Game three: Rich Hill (4-1, 2.59 ERA) vs. Madison Bumgarner (9-9, 3.90 ERA)

Sunday, Sept. 29 - 12:05 p.m. PT // TV: SportsNet LA

Closing out the season for LA on the mound will be Rich Hill. He is scheduled to throw about three innings or 45 pitches since he is still slowly getting back into the routine of things. The 39-year-old left hander is dealing with a sprained MCL and is still learning to deal with the pain that comes with the injury.

Depending on how Sunday afternoon goes, he has the potential to make the Division Series roster.

Madison Bumgarner will end the season for the Giants, in what could possibly be his last game as a Giants player. In his most recent start, MadBum earned a no-decision after allowing three home runs to the Rockies. Though he doesn’t have a good track record against the Dodgers in 2019, he’ll have the advantage of being at home, where he pitches particularly well. He has a 0-3 record in four games against LA this year, but his 2.93 ERA at home is not too shabby.