The first two times Clayton Kershaw opposed Madison Bumgarner, it was too early to gauge whether it would be the Los Angeles Dodgers or San Francisco Giants winning the National League West.
The left-handed aces opposed each other twice in a span of six days in the first two weeks of the season with the Dodgers winning both meetings. Kershaw went 1-0 with a 2.40 ERA in those games and Bumgarner was 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA.
Fast forward six months later, it is Kershaw’s Dodgers who are in first place over Bumgarner’s Giants, and the two stars will be on the mound in the opener of a three-game series on Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
It will be the 10th regular-season matchup between Kershaw and Bumgarner, who made their major league debuts 15 1/2 months apart in 2008 and 2009. Kershaw has gone 3-4 with a 2.18 ERA and Bumgarner is 4-3 with a 2.88 ERA in those games.
Kershaw will be making his third start since returning from a back injury. When he pitched five innings in Wednesday’s 2-0 victory at Yankee Stadium, it could not have pleased him and the Dodgers any more.
The three-time Cy Young award winner pitched around two rain delays, threw 64 pitches and about 16 more in a simulated game. He retired the first 12 hitters and ended his outing by striking out Yankees catcher Austin Romine with two on in a scoreless game.
“We felt comfortable with that delay to go back out there for the fifth. I think that just individually for Clayton it couldn’t have worked out any better under the circumstances,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Fastball was good, velocity was really plus. He got the strikeout when he needed to, but to see Clayton go out there and do what he does, it was a huge lift for us.”
“It was pretty much the same (intensity) both times,” Kershaw said. “I was obviously thankful to be back the first time, but I wasn’t thinking about that. Once you start pitching, you’re pitching. You’re trying to get guys out, and if you’re not doing that effectively you need to look at it. So I did that.
“Just a little bit was better overall today. Maybe it was back on a normal routine, a normal four days almost — or whatever my normal is now. Maybe that helped a little bit, I don’t know.”
Kershaw is 7-1 with a 1.31 ERA in eight home starts this season. He has not pitched at home since beating Washington on June 20.
Against the Giants, he is 18-7 with a 1.62 ERA in 34 games. He has posted a 0.80 WHIP, held Giants hitters to a .182 average and on June 10 Kershaw struck out 13 without a walk on 108 pitches in a 3-2 victory.
The current Giants have a collective .161 average against Kershaw and it’s a significant drop-off after Buster Posey and Angel Pagan. Posey and Pagan are a combined .250 (37-for-148) against Kershaw. The rest of the team is 29-for-263 (.110).
Burmgarner will be seeking his 100th career win. He is 4-5 with a 3.87 ERA in his last 12 starts after he took the loss Wednesday against the San Diego Padres when he allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.
“Tough luck. No other way to describe it,” Bumgarner said of the loss. “I made some good pitches.”
He is 13-9 with a 2.78 ERA in 25 appearances against the Dodgers, though he has a 5.63 ERA in his two outings against Los Angeles this season.
The current Dodgers have a combined .243 average against Bumgarner and the best average belongs to outfielder Enrique Hernandez .579 (11-for-19) with three home runs. Justin Turner is 11-for-41 and left-handed hitters Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Utley are 10-for-50 and 2-for-12, respectively.
The Giants led by 6 1/2 games at the All-Star break but lost the lead to the Dodgers on Aug. 21 after falling 2-0 to the Mets. That loss also put the Giants in a fight for the wild card with the Mets and Cardinals.
Since the lead changed hands, the Giants have lost 15 of 26 and the Dodgers have won 17 of 27.
The Dodgers missed a chance to extend the lead to six games when Ross Stripling gave up a 10th-inning single to Arizona’s Brandon Drury in Sunday’s 10-9 loss.
“We’ve been waiting for this series for a while,” Roberts said. “I think we’re still playing pretty good baseball.”
The Giants were held to five hits and were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position during Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. The loss dropped San Francisco into the second wild spot, one game behind the Mets and one ahead of St. Louis.
“We created some chances today; we just couldn’t get them in,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “We couldn’t get the big hit.”
