SF Giants face slumping Dodgers to end first half — with changes on both sides of rivalry

SAN FRANCISCO The Giants and Dodgers enter their three-game set to end the first half on different trajectories San Francisco - bounced back from its worst stretch of the season and has won six of its last eight games catapulting back to second place in the NL West Los Angeles - by contrast has lost six straight after being swept by the Houston Astros and Milwaukee Brewers Manager Bob Melvin though isn t taking much stock in which gang is surging and which organization is slumping When we play them I think everything s kind of thrown of the window Melvin commented I don t think catching them after a series that they were down really matters one way or the other I m sure it ll be pretty rowdy Justin Verlander explained after taking the loss Wednesday to the Phillies I hope we can move on from this one in the present day We ve been playing a few pretty good baseball the last week Less than a month ago these teams were briefly tied for first place in the NL West after Casey Schmitt kicked off the Giants three-game series in Los Angeles with a grand slam off Yoshinobu Yamamoto Los Angeles rebounded to take the following two games of that series and is right now leading the division by five games Melvin will deploy his three best starters to close out the first half On Friday two-time All-Star Logan Webb will face Dustin May on Friday to begin the series On Sunday fellow All-Stars Robbie Ray and Yoshinobu Yamamoto will battle before they both head to Atlanta for the Midsummer Classic As far as Saturday Landen Roupp will start opposite Shohei Ohtani who will make his first start against the Giants as a member of the rivalry Ohtani made his return to the mound on June after undergoing surgery on Sept to repair a UCL tear in his right elbow The Dodgers limited Ohtani to one inning in his first two starts then increased his workload to two innings in the following two outings During his majority of new outing against the Astros Ohtani retired all six batters he faced while striking out three Overall he s allowed one run over six innings ERA with six strikeouts At the plate Ohtani is putting up another MVP-caliber season Entering Thursday Ohtani is leading the National League in homers and OPS with steals on attempts Ohtani has maintained his offensive output on the days he pitches going -for- with a double a triple a homer three walks and seven RBIs on his four start days This series will also mark Rafael Devers first experience in the Giants-Dodgers rivalry as news of his acquisition broke just before the final encounter of the series at Dodger Stadium last month Devers is plenty familiar with decades-long beef between teams having spent nine seasons with the Boston Red Sox In games against the New York Yankees Devers put up a slash line of with homers and RBIs One of Devers first truly special moments was when he hit an opposite-field home run against Aroldis Chapman on a mph fastball in his th career meeting Adding to the intrigue is the fact that the Dodgers roster features superstar Mookie Betts Devers teammate on Boston s World Series champion company Betts and Devers haven t been teammates in more than half a decade but both are well aware of each other s respective talents Nothing really to say it s just crazy Betts recounted The Athletic last month on his reaction to the Red Sox trading Devers Related Articles Despite blowout SF Giants Verlander optimistic following best start of year With unicorn-esque pitch in tow undrafted SF Giants prospect Trent Harris heading to Futures Meeting SF Giants walk off Phillies on Bailey s inside-the-park homer Willie Mays trophies World Series ring up for charity auction later this SF Giants season How SF Giants Rodr guez turned new slider grip into first All-Star selection Devers has yet to consistently look like a three-time All-Star since joining the Giants hitting with two home runs and nine RBIs over games in San Francisco The slow start can be attributed to Devers nagging back and groin injuries both of which are preventing him from playing first base as well as the general life adjustment that comes with being traded from the organization that he signed with as a teenager The Giants expect that Devers will start looking like a star in due time This upcoming series would be a great opportunity to break out I know the anticipated that I have My mentality is not just to make the Dodgers suffer but every club that we play against Devers announced during his introductory press conference last month