LOS ANGELES — The third start of Madison Bumgarner’s return to the
San Francisco Giants‘ rotation after a broken finger will take the
left-hander to a mound where he knows success.
Bumgarner will
square off with Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood in the middle game of a
three-game series on Saturday at Dodger Stadium.
It is a venue Bumgarner knows well Panthers Game Jerseys ,
having pitched there 18 times, 17 of which have been starts. He has a
career 2.31 ERA in L.A. and gave up just one run in two starts in the
Dodgers’ home park last season.
Add in the fact that the
rivalry game will be televised nationally and all the elements to shine
appear to be in place for Bumgarner (0-1, 4.76 ERA), who showed his
feisty side in an outing earlier this week at Miami when he was ejected
upon departing the game.
“My stuff is good enough to get
people out right now; I’ve just got to execute,” Bumgarner told mlb.com
after he was ejected for giving a piece of his mind to home-plate umpire
Jeremie Rehak.
The mild-mannered Wood (1-5, 4.43) might
be ready to show an edgier side as well. The left-hander has given up a
combined 15 runs (13 earned) in his last three starts and has pitched
just 11 innings in those outings.
Dodgers manager Dave
Roberts has already been asked if Wood is in danger of losing his
starting spot, but he remains confident in the All-Star from a year ago.
But left-hander Rich Hill (blister) looks close to a return from the
disabled list after a solid minor league rehab start and could possibly
force Wood from the rotation.
To Wood’s credit, he has
remained confident, not sounding like a pitcher who needs to prove
himself against the Giants on Saturday.
“There’s a lot of
baseball left to be played,” Wood said, according to the Los Angeles
Times. “I can promise you that, when we get down that stretch Bears Game Jerseys , I’ll be playing my best baseball of the year.”
As
a team, the Dodgers (36-32) are doing just that. For a month, the
defending National League champions have looked more like the team that
roared into the 2017 World Series, only to lose in seven games to the
Houston Astros.
The Dodgers will enter Saturday having won
10 of their 12 games in June while posting a 20-6 record since May 17.
They hit two more home runs Friday and now have 32 in June, by far the
most in baseball during the month. They lead the NL with 88 home runs
this season.
When that 20-6 run began, the Dodgers were in
fourth place in the NL West, eight games back, and the Giants were in
third place, and four games back.
After the Dodgers’ 3-2
victory over the Giants on Friday, L.A. was in second place, 2 1/2 games
back, and the Giants (34-36) were in fourth place Bengals Game Jerseys , 5 1/2 games back and just a half game in front of the last-place San Diego Padres.
Pablo Sandoval homered Friday night for the Giants, who fell to 3-5 on their three-city, 10-game road trip.
Jacksonville
Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith is pleading for leniency after being
fined $10,000 for taunting Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell
during his fumble return for a touchdown last week.
Smith pointed at Bell near the goal line and drew a 15-yard penalty. He says he will appeal the fine.
The
team’s leading tackler issued a public apology to the NFL on Thursday,
saying, ”I wish I had not pointed. Give me a camera to talk to the
league, too. NFL, please listen. I’m sorry. I got the fine today. I
apologize. I take the point back, the taunting. I’m a great player.”
A
second-team All-Pro selection, Smith had 102 tackles during the regular
season and has 27 in two postseason games, including 16 against the
Steelers.
He adds: ”Y’all make sure y’all put that video up about the fine. Trying to get that appealed.”
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