While the Los Angeles Dodgers are fighting to secure homefield advantage for the National League Division Series in the playoffs, the San Francisco Giants are aiming to send one of the league's long-time pitchers into retirement with a win. Tim Hudson takes the mound on Thursday in what is expected to be his final game of an outstanding career. As the season series wraps up for the Dodgers and Giants, Hudson wants one more win before he calls it a career.
Hudson certainly exits with an impressive resume. The pitcher is the majors' active leader with 222 wins in his career. After 17 seasons, he revealed that this would be his last one. The 40-year-old has 15 straight years of ending with a winning record. He sits 8-8 on the season right now and would like to get one more season of winning under his belt to add to the resume. Hudson is not expected to pitch the full game. The pitcher is dealing with hip pain that has forced him to the disabled list twice this season while he also deals with shoulder issues. That is likely one of the reasons Hudson was pushed to decide on retirement. Since coming back from his last DL stint, Hudson is 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA in four starts. He has won both meetings against the Dodgers this year.
On the other side of the field, the Dodgers are trying to grab homefield advantage before they face the New York Mets. The Mets own the season tiebreaker, so winning this game is important for the Dodgers. Los Angeles has been far better at home this season than on the road and they certainly want to lock that up for the first round of the playoffs.
Brett Anderson will make the start as he is 9-9 with a 3.75 Era on the season. He has struggled lately, getting hit hard in his last two games while giving up six runs in four innings last Saturday after giving up five runs in four innings against Arizona. Anderson has simply lacked consistency lately which could spell trouble for the Dodgers who were shut out on Wednesday. Anderson is 0-4 with a 5.64 ERA at AT&T Park.