Home-field advantage in the National League is still up for grabs and the Los Angeles Dodgers are right in the mix.
The NL West-champion Dodgers will get back to work Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants and are battling Atlanta and St. Louis for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Braves have a half-game lead on the Cardinals.
Los Angeles has won two in a row and four of its last six games and took two of three from the San Diego Padres over the weekend. In Sunday's 1-0 win at Petco Park, Michael Young drove in Adrian Gonzalez with two outs in the seventh inning and Zack Greinke threw five shutout innings in the no-decision.
"He's going on regular rest, even short rest if you consider coming back for a day game after pitching in a night game. He'll get an extra day the next two times." Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said of Greinke.
J.P. Howell pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the win and Kenley Jansen later picked up his 27th save with three K's in the ninth.
The Dodgers, who will host Colorado for three games to close out the regular season, have rookie Hyun-Jin Ryu slated to pitch Tuesday. Ryu is just 1-4 in his last five decisions and pitched well in defeat his last time out in a 2-1 loss at Arizona last Monday. He allowed two runs in eight innings to fall to 13-7 in 28 starts with a 3.03 earned run average.
Ryu, a left-hander, has a 1-2 mark and a 2.81 ERA in four career starts against the Giants.
A disappointing season for the defending World Series champion Giants is almost over and they will begin a six-game homestand Tuesday versus the Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
The Giants had lost three of four games until they salvaged the finale of a three-game series against the New York Yankees with Sunday's 2-1 win in the Bronx. Tony Abreu doubled home Nick Noonan in the top of the eighth and the Giants kept the Yankees at bay from there.
Ehire Adrianza homered and Yusmeiro Petit allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings. Javier Lopez picked up the win by getting the final two outs in the seventh inning and Sergio Romo earned his 36th save. Romo was excited to pitch on the same mound as Yankees legend and future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera, who is retiring at season's end.
"To compete on the same mound against Mariano ... he toed the rubber before I did today," Romo said. "It was pretty sweet for me."
Matt Cain draws the start for the Giants Tuesday and is 0-1 in his last four starts. He did not record a decision in last Wednesday's 5-4 loss against the New York Mets at Citi Field and gave up one unearned run in 7 2/3 innings. He is 8-9 with a 4.06 ERA in 29 starts this season and 5-9 with a 3.48 ERA in 27 career starts against the Dodgers.
In 16 road assignments, the right-handed Cain is 4-7.
San Francisco leads the season series with Los Angeles, 9-7. Former Giants closer and current Dodgers reliever Brian Wilson will make his return to AT&T Park in this series. Wilson was with the Giants from 2006-12 and recorded the final out of the 2010 World Series. He then underwent Tommy John surgery for the second time in his career last April.
"I'm sure with any personality that goes to a rival, it's not going to be a warm and fuzzy reaction," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told his club's website. "I don't understand that, though. They could have signed him. They let him go. It's not like he decided to leave. It'll probably be half and half. A lot of people appreciated what he was able to accomplish, and there will be a mix of traitor talk."
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