Clayton Kershaw is the definition of a stopper and the Giants own a career .537 OPS against him in terms of their active hitters. Kershaw has been even more dominant in his starts in San Francisco as he has not even given up a run over his last 4 starts there and just 2 ER in his last 5. The Dodgers hit RHP much better than lefties so Iâm confident in their ability to get some runs off the ever surprising Ryan Vogelsong. For one the Dodgers are scoring 4.64 runs per 9 vs. RHP on the road compared to the Giants 3.32 at home vs. LHP. They have great numbers against Vogelsong despite him posting a 2.67 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP that indicates that ERA should be higher.
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What can you say about Vogelsong though he gets tougher when guys are on base and part of it is luck, but part of it is being cool as a cucumber. He was not able to hold that coolness against another ace in Jered Weaver and I think the pressure of holding the Dodgers scoreless will be too much. Especially since Rivera, Loney, Gordon and Ethier are a combined 19-43, a .442 average. Vogelsong has great numbers once again this year, but nothing is flash he only has a 2:1 K/BB ratio and his .249 BABIP and 83.3% LOB leads me to believe heâs getting more lucky than anything and his xFIP tends to agree as he posts a 4.53 xFIP 2 runs higher than his actual ERA.
