ESPN Sunday Night Baseball: Dodgers vs. Giants preview
By Joe Wedra
Sep 24, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher
Matt Cain(18) pitches the ball against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Date: April 6th, 2014
First Pitch: 8:05 PM EST
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Venue: Dodger Stadium
Starting Pitchers: Los Angeles – Zack Greinke; San Francisco – Matt Cain
Radio: LA – 570 Fox Sports LA, KTNQ 1020; SF – KNBR 680, KTRB 860
TV: ESPN
ESPN Sunday Night Baseball is one of the best traditions in the MLB and tonight, the Great American Pastime is on to cap off the weekend. The Los Angeles Dodgers will battle the San Francisco Giants in the third game of the series.
Cain will take the mound for the Giants looking to stifle a Dodger lineup that is full of big names.
Cain’s first start of the season came on April 1st when he pitched against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He allowed seven hits over five innings, surrendering three runs (two earned) and striking out just two hitters.
Effectiveness will be the key for Cain tonight. Against Arizona, he threw 99 pitches in just five innings of work. Against hitters like Adrian Gonzalez, Cain must keep the ball low in the zone and try to roll ground balls every inning.
Last year, Los Angeles got the best of Cain in five matchups. The 29-year-old starter got just one win, totaling a 3.64 ERA and allowing a hit per inning.
On the other side of the diamond, Greinke will be on the hill.
The 6’2” right-hander also went five innings in his start. He allowed just two hits and two runs as he struck out five. He had just one start against the Giants in 2013 (LINE: 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run).
We know what Greinke can do, so it will be interesting to see how Cain handles the very tough Los Angeles lineup. From top to bottom, the Dodgers can do damage. In a game like the one we’ll see tonight, one poor pitched inning could lead to an easy loss.
First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 in Los Angeles.
We will be previewing every ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game on CallToThePen this season. We’ll have weekly statistics on starting pitchers and how they project to fare against their opponents.