The Los Angeles Dodgers will seek to break the franchise record for fewest games needed to record 100 wins when they go for the century mark against the host San Francisco Giants on Saturday.
One year after they reached 100 wins two games after the Giants, the Dodgers (99-44) will go for a 100th win in just their 144th contest, four fewer than it took the 1953 edition to set the franchise mark.
The Dodgers have reached triple digits in wins nine times in their history, including 2017 with 104 and both 2019 and last season with a franchise-record-tying 106.
The 1953 Dodgers finished 105-49-1 in a 155-game season.
Los Angeles moved within one win of a 10th 100-win campaign with a dominating 5-0 win in San Francisco on Friday night, a game in which Dustin May, on a pitch count as he’s completing a comeback from Tommy John surgery, was pulled after five innings with a no-hitter.
Left-hander Julio Urias (16-7, 2.30 ERA) will start for the Dodgers in the middle game as he continues pursuing a second straight 20-win season. He went 20-3 last year.
The 26-year-old has gone 3-0 in past three starts, allowing a total of four runs and eight hits in 19 innings.
Urias is 2-1 against the Giants this season, including throwing six shutout innings in a 3-0 win in his last visit to San Francisco in August. He will be making his 19th career regular-season start and 25th regular-season appearance against the Giants, having gone 5-4 with a 2.16 ERA in previous head-to-head meetings.
He also faced the Giants twice in the NL Division Series last year, going 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA, allowing two runs and six hits in nine innings.
Meantime, All-Star Tony Gonsolin is expected to take the next step toward a possible return from a right forearm strain with a pregame session.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts noted Friday that he hopes Gonsolin, out since Aug. 23, will be able to return for the playoffs next month.
“I do feel that he’s going to be able to contribute in some capacity,” he projected. “I know it’s important to him.”
The Dodgers got a hit, a run and an RBI from Chris Taylor in Friday’s win, but Roberts nonetheless announced he would be making a change in the rematch. Gavin Lux, out since Sept. 1 with neck pain, will return as the starting second baseman, Roberts said.
Lux likely will face a series of Giants relievers if he plays the entire game. The Giants (69-75) aren’t expected to name a replacement for injured starter Alex Wood until sometime Saturday, and it likely will be a reliever in an “opener” capacity.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler disclosed that it’s possible Wood, who last pitched on Aug. 31, could be out for the year as he continues to deal with left shoulder pain with the season quickly approaching its end.
“Alex knows his body very well,” Kapler assured. “He knows when it’s time to really hit the gas pedal and to push himself.”
–Field Level Media
