Giants open Dodgers series after Los Angeles clinches NL West

LOS ANGELES - The San Francisco Giants walk into a different kind of rivalry weekend.

The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their 13th National League West title in 14 seasons with an 8-2 win at Cincinnati on Thursday, Field Level Media reported, then returned home to open a three-game set against San Francisco on Friday night. Los Angeles sits at 93-60. The Giants are 64-89 and finishing a season that will not include October baseball.

That imbalance takes some of the old bite out of the matchup. It does not erase the schedule.

Friday is the first of six games between the clubs over the final two weekends of the regular season - three at Dodger Stadium, then three in San Francisco the following weekend - and the Dodgers are still chasing seeding while the Giants are still trying to finish clean.

What the clinch changes for both clubs

Kyle Tucker's four-hit night in Cincinnati, including a home run, helped Los Angeles lock the West and keep pace among the National League's top division winners. Field Level Media noted the Dodgers are two games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the league's best record and four games ahead of Atlanta for the second-best mark among division champs.

Overtaking Milwaukee would deliver the top seed and home-field advantage through the NL playoffs. Falling into the third slot among division winners would mean a wild-card round instead of a bye into the Division Series.

Tucker, speaking amid champagne after Thursday's clincher, told Field Level Media the clubhouse goal has been the same since spring training: reach the World Series and win it. The Dodgers are the two-time defending champions. A clinched division title is a checkpoint on that path, not the finish line.

For San Francisco, the series is about showing something in September after a lost summer. The Giants swept St. Louis at home last week and took two of three in the just-completed Cardinals series on the road, including Drew Gilbert's two-run pinch-hit homer in the 10th on Wednesday.

Manager Tony Vitello is leaning on rookie Bryce Eldridge at first base with Rafael Devers done for the year after core-muscle surgery. Eldridge has 17 home runs and 57 RBIs in 107 games, including a 461-foot blast in Tuesday's 10-3 win at St. Louis.

Glasnow vs. Perdomo to open the homestand

Right-hander Tyler Glasnow (4-1, 3.50 ERA) starts Friday for Los Angeles against left-hander Cesar Perdomo (0-1, 3.68). Glasnow is 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA in four starts since returning from a back injury and has allowed four runs in each of his last two outings, but he remains 6-1 with a 3.02 ERA in nine career appearances against the Giants, Field Level Media reported.

Perdomo will make his fourth career appearance and third start - and his first taste of this rivalry. In his home debut against San Diego, he allowed five runs on 10 hits over 4 2/3 innings after giving up just one run across his first 10 professional innings.

He called it an outing to learn from, speaking in Spanish via MLB.com as quoted by Field Level Media.

The pitching contrast matches the standings contrast: a veteran with a long Giants resume against a young arm still collecting firsts. The Dodgers want wins for seeding. The Giants want competitive innings and a respectable close to a series that once decided pennants.

Six games, two weekends, one clinched club

Five years ago, San Francisco won the West at 107-55 and edged Los Angeles by a game. This September, the Dodgers already have the division banner hung, and the Giants are playing out the string. The next six meetings will not change October's bracket for San Francisco.

They can still change how both clubs feel walking into the final week - especially if Los Angeles is still hunting Milwaukee while Vitello's group tries to keep its recent Cardinals form intact against the defending champions.

Friday night at Dodger Stadium is where that stretch starts.

Sources

Reuters

Reuters