Jul 30, 2018; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Derek Holland (45) pitches during the fifth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Photo Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES — A benches-clearing incident and another late-inning victory by the San Francisco Giants figures to add plenty of pep to Wednesday night’s series finale at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers’ Yasiel Puig and the Giants’ Nick Hundley did some arguing and a little shoving in the seventh inning Tuesday, with both players getting ejected. Each team then used some new-found energy to score runs in the final two innings, with the Giants pulling off a 2-1 victory.
The starter in charge of leading the Giants toward a three-game sweep on Wednesday will be left-hander Derek Holland, who finally earned a victory last week after going winless over his previous 10 appearances, which included six starts and four relief appearances.
Now Holland (6-8, 3.97 ERA) will try to win a game in consecutive appearances for the first time this year.
Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu will train his focus on consecutive victories in due time. Wednesday will be his first appearance on the mound since May 2, when he lasted just 1 1/3 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Ryu has been on the disabled list with a left groin strain.
To accommodate Ryu in the rotation, the Dodgers orchestrated a pitching-staff shuffle, moving both Ross Stripling and Kenta Maeda to the bullpen. The double move also allowed Alex Wood to return to the rotation from the DL on Tuesday.
Ryu does not figure to have a lot of time to ramp into his old form. He was 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA when he was injured, and more of the same will likely be expected as the Dodgers make a late-season playoff push. The club simply has too many starters at the ready if Ryu falters.
A benefit to Ryu’s return is that the presence of Stripling and Maeda in the bullpen will help a group that has been down on its luck in recent days. During the last four games of the Dodgers’ current five-game losing streak, opponents have scored the go-ahead run in the ninth inning against the bullpen.
Manager Dave Roberts is keeping the faith when it comes to his relievers, who are operating without Kenley Jansen. The right-hander could be back by the end of August after experiencing an irregular heartbeat.
“Right now, the results haven’t been there,” Roberts said. “We’re all frustrated.”
Holland was in the same position as Stripling and Maeda in July when his move to the bullpen happened. In order to accommodate the return of Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, Holland drew the short straw and became a reliever despite a 3.26 ERA over his previous six starts.
He is back to being a starter and ready to face a Dodgers team he has never beaten in four career starts. He is 0-3 against Los Angeles with a 6.38 ERA.
Three of those starts came this season, and he is 0-2 with a 6.08 ERA against the Dodgers in those games. His most recent start against Los Angeles was on June 15, when he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits in five innings and took the loss in a 3-2 Dodgers win.
In more evidence of how fickle the win stat is for starting pitchers, his victory Friday came despite giving up more earned runs than he allowed in any of his previous 14 appearances. He gave up five runs (four earned) and 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings, but got the win in the Giants’ 13-10 victory over Pittsburgh.
“I can’t say enough about what he’s doing for us,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said about Holland, according to nbcsports.com. “His stuff is good and he’s mixing it up well. He’s been really good with his command and stuff.”
Ryu is 4-6 in 13 career starts against the Giants with a 3.36 ERA.
