Giants vs. Dodgers, Series Preview: Rivalry Renewed for Two Game Set in L.A.

Coming off of a shortened series sweep by the hands of the Colorado Rockies the San Francisco Giants will be looking for some redemption against another NL West rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants roll through L.A. for a two game series starting today, aiming to score some victories against their most historic and hated rivalry of all time.

This is the first time since opening weekend that the Giants have returned to Chavez Ravine to face the Dodgers, a series that saw only one Giants win and the unfortunate Bryan Stow incident on opening day. The ugliness that mared their last trip will hopefully be replaced with some beautiful baseball, especially since the Giants are only 3-4 against L.A. this year. Two important things are going to have to happen if the G-Men want to be successful this short series; the Giants will need to figure out Clayton Kershaw while Matt Cain will need to figure out the Dodgers on Wednesday. 

Kershaw sports a  3-1 record with a 1.07 ERA in seven starts against San Francisco, including a .229 opposing batting average while allowing only 31 hits and striking out 54 in 50 2/3 innings.   Cain on the other hand has 3 wins in his last 4 starts against the Dodgers, but began 0-14 against them beforehand. Cain has pitched 4 straight quality starts while Kershaw is coming off of a 7 inning scoreless streak, needless to say it should be a pretty good matchup. 

These two teams currently sit 26th and 29th respectively in total runs scored in MLB, so pitching is going to be a big plus during this series. Both teams are sending out some good arms, so I wouldn't expect either game to be a slugfest. But then again, when its Giants v. Dodgers, anything can happen.