The Los Angeles Dodgers magical number is down to one. The team has a chance to clinch the National League West with a win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night. The Giants are on a downward slope as they failed to clinch a wild card birth and now sit 4 ½ games back in the West with five games left in their season. While they might not make the postseason, getting a win over their rivals is certainly a nice way to end the season.
Tuesday's game was certainly a heated matchup. Benches cleared after Yasiel Puig was hit in the foot by pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Matt Kemp knocked out a two-run homer a few bats later, securing the win for the Dodgers. Now Los Angeles sends Clayton Kershaw to the mound who is a near lock to win the Cy Young and possibly the MVP award. He is in the middle of a six-start win streak after giving up just three runs to the Chicago Cubs. He failed to pitch seven innings for the first time in 18 starts, but the Dodgers are not concerned about it being an issue.
Against the Giants, Kershaw has last seven innings in all three of his starts while going 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in that stretch. In his last matchup, he gave up three hits in a shutout win while giving up two runs in the eighth the game before. In his career, Kershaw is 13-5 with a 1.45 ERA in 24 starts against San Francisco.
The Giants need a win and a Milwaukee loss to help their postseason chances. Tim Hudson gets the start after getting roughed up by the Dodgers in his last start. The pitcher gave up six runs off eight hits in one innings in a blowout 17-0 loss back in September. He gave up just two runs to the team back in May. In his last start, Hudson went just four innings to the San Diego Padres, giving up all five runs in the shutout loss.
Watch Dodgers vs. Giants live stream, click here.
