The rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants cuts so deep that even the slightest of advantages are pursued.

Before the deciding Game 5 of last year’s National League Division Series between the teams, the Dodgers announced they were switching their starter from left-hander Julio Urias to an opener in right-hander Corey Knebel.

But Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he sent a text to Giants manager Gabe Kapler the evening before the change was announced. Still, it was an eye-opening decision not to start a 20-game winner.

Again, the Dodgers have uncertain pitching plans against the Giants, not naming a starter for Wednesday night’s game between the teams in Los Angeles. The Dodgers were deciding between right-hander Tony Gonsolin or going with a bullpen game.

“You can say it’s gamesmanship, but I just don’t think that we’re dead set on who we want to start (Wednesday),” Roberts said.

Gonsolin (1-0, 1.59 ERA) is off to a strong start, but he is 0-2 with a 4.32 ERA in three regular-season appearances (two starts) against San Francisco. He did not face the Giants in last season’s playoffs.

“There’s a couple thoughts,” Roberts said before the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory over the Giants on Tuesday. “Some of it is dependent on how (Tuesday) goes. Some of it is not really contingent on how (Tuesday) goes. I think we’re going to see how it goes and then figure out how we’re going to navigate (Wednesday).”

The Giants are set on starting former Dodger Alex Wood (2-1, 4.19). Wood pitched with the Dodgers in five of six seasons before joining the Giants last season and going 0-2 with a 4.76 ERA in three starts against Los Angeles in 2021.

Wood, a left-hander, also started Game 3 of last year’s NLDS against the Dodgers and went 4 2/3 scoreless innings with a no-decision in a 1-0 San Francisco victory.

Wood had the worst of his four starts this season on Friday at home against the Washington Nationals, when he gave up five runs on eight hits over five innings while taking the loss.

“I just didn’t command the ball as good as I have been,” Wood said. “Pretty much every ball they put in play was a hit. Sometimes that’s just the way it goes.”

Tuesday’s first game of the season between the clubs was a tight, well-pitched affair. Los Angeles’ Chris Taylor was the difference maker, with a two-run single in the second inning, while the starters — Urias for the Dodgers and Carlos Rodon for the Giants — combined to give up just seven hits.

The Giants should get closer to full strength Wednesday. Outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr. (knee) played in a rehab game Tuesday and is expected to join the Giants in Los Angeles, as is Mike Yastrzemski (COVID-19 list).

San Francisco’s Joc Pederson (groin) pinch-hit on Tuesday, while infielders Evan Longoria (finger) and Tommy La Stella (Achilles) also had rehab-game appearances for Sacramento.

“It’s always nice to have a full lineup, a full roster, (and) there are very few teams around baseball who have that luxury all the time,” Kapler said. “It’s not a surprise that we have struggled a little bit without some of our best guys.”

–Field Level Media

The Chicago Cubs are experiencing just how well Chicago White Sox pitchers are throwing the ball.

Lucas Giolito will try to continue the White Sox’s recent success on the mound when they aim to sweep this two-game road set against the struggling crosstown rival Cubs on Wednesday night.

With four scoreless innings during the White Sox’s 3-1 win over the Cubs on Tuesday, Michael Kopech became the third starter in the last four games for the South Siders not to allow a run.

As a staff, White Sox pitchers have a 1.75 ERA with 41 strikeouts while the club has won three of four following a 1-10 rut.

That doesn’t bode well for the Cubs, losers in 10 of 13, who have totaled six runs in their five contests and have struck out 68 times over a six-game stretch.

The White Sox have won four straight at Wrigley Field, where they’ve also taken eight of the last 10.

“Good thing we got the win (Tuesday); now we want to finish off (the series with a sweep),” White Sox star Tim Anderson said. “Keep the same energy going into (Wednesday). We’re heading in the right direction. Keep building.”

Giolito (0-1, 2.57 ERA) allowed one run over eight innings of his first two starts this season, then yielded three runs on seven hits, including two homers, while striking out seven with a walk in six innings of a 5-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Friday.

The right-hander will look to snap a three-start losing streak to the Cubs, a team he’s gone 1-3 against, with an 8.71 ERA.

However, Giolito hasn’t faced the Cubs since 2019.

Willson Contreras has two hits in nine 11 plate-appearances vs. Giolito, but both were home runs. However, Contreras has missed the last two games with an apparent thigh injury, according to Marquee Sports Network.

Meanwhile, scheduled Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks (1-2, 5.47) has been a different pitcher depending on the location of his five starts this season. He’s 0-2 with a 13.50 ERA on the road but 1-0 with a 1.62 ERA in three starts at home in 2022.

The Cubs hope the latter trend continues as the right-hander looks to bounce back from allowing six runs and seven hits — three homers — over 4 1/3 innings of Friday’s 11-1 loss at Milwaukee.

“Consistency is what you’re striving for,” Hendricks told the Cubs’ official website. “And that starts with pitch-to-pitch for me. And yeah, I’m just not having that right now. It’s kind of been one game to the next.”

Though Hendricks is 0-2 in five career home starts against the White Sox, he’s posted a 2.83 ERA during those contests.

However, Anderson, who hit his fourth homer of the season on Tuesday, is 6-for-16 vs. Hendricks. Anderson is 9-for-20 during a five-game hitting streak overall.

Meanwhile, teammates Jose Abreu, Josh Harrison and Luis Robert are batting a combined .520 (26-for-50) with six home runs against him.

Former White Sox infielder Nick Madrigal singled against his former team Tuesday. He has four hits over his last four games for the Cubs.

–Field Level Media

The Boston Red Sox will look to build on their second shutout win of the season when they continue a three-game home series against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night.

The Red Sox opened the set with a 4-0 win, handing L.A. a second consecutive shutout loss after the Angels fell Monday to the Chicago White Sox.

Shohei Ohtani returned to the Angels’ lineup as the designated hitter after being held out of the previous game due to right-groin tightness. He recorded the first hit against Boston starter Michael Wacha in the fourth inning and finished 1 for 4, recording one of just three total Los Angeles hits.

“If he continues to progress, he’ll pitch Thursday,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said of Ohtani.

With Ohtani’s return to the rotation now delayed for one more day, left-hander Reid Detmers (1-1, 5.19 ERA) will start the middle game of the series for the Angels.

Detmers earned his first win of the season Thursday against Cleveland. He worked five innings of two-hit, one-run ball, with four strikeouts.

The second-year player has never pitched against Boston.

Despite being beaten in the series opener, the Angels got a seven-inning start out of Noah Syndergaard. It was his longest outing since his return from Tommy John surgery in 2020.

“I thought we played great. I thought our defense was outstanding and we pitched well,” Maddon said. “Normally you win games like that. I have a ton of faith in our offense, so (after) a game like that, you just take a shower, go home and come back the next day. … We have to figure out a way to beat (good pitching).”

Boston’s Garrett Whitlock (1-1, 0.54) is set to make his seventh overall appearance and third consecutive start.

Whitlock has worked well in both starting and relief roles this season, striking out 20 while allowing just one earned run in 16 2/3 innings.

The right-hander was dominant in his debut April 23 start at Tampa Bay, striking out seven over four innings of one-hit ball. He was charged with a loss five days later against Toronto despite allowing just one unearned run on four hits in three innings.

“Obviously, the preparation is different, of course, because you’re trying to go five, six innings,” Sox manager Alex Cora said recently. “Big-league hitters, big-league lineup, you have to see tendencies and all that. It’s not that you didn’t do that out of the bullpen, but it’s different.”

Wednesday will mark Whitlock’s second career appearance against the Angels. He struck out the side in one inning during a Boston loss last July 7.

On Tuesday, Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez homered, Jackie Bradley Jr. had two doubles, and Wacha pitched 5 2/3 innings for Boston.

“We hit the ball hard again and we were hunting pitches in the zone,” Cora said. “We got pitches; we put good swings on them. It was a good beginning. We played good defense, and it’s good to win the first one of the series.”

Tanner Houck, who was unable to travel to Canada for his scheduled start last week due to being unvaccinated, will remain in the bullpen as a long reliever for now.

The Angels’ pitching depth shrank before Tuesday’s game, as reliever Austin Warren was placed on the 15-day injured list with a nasal fracture after being hit by a stray ball during Red Sox batting practice. Elvis Peguero pitched on the same day he was activated.

–Field Level Media

Dylan Bundy once was a member of the Baltimore Orioles.

When he departed from that organization, it was part of a trade for four minor-league pitchers.

One of those was Kyle Bradish.

The story will come full circle Wednesday night when Bundy heads to the mound as the starting pitcher for the Minnesota Twins vs. the host Orioles.

Bradish will start for the Orioles in a matchup of right-handers.

That December 2019 trade sent Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels, though he has since changed teams again.

Bundy (3-1, 2.95 ERA) is coming off his first loss of the season after giving up six runs in six innings in a 6-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays last Friday.

Bradish (0-1, 3.00) lost to the Boston Red Sox on Friday in his big-league debut, surrendering three runs (two earned) in six innings.

While the scheduled starters create a good storyline, Minnesota has had plenty of good work up and down the pitching staff.

Twins relievers haven’t allowed a run in a combined eight innings in the first two games of the series — both Minnesota victories. The Orioles have one hit off Minnesota relievers.

“I see a collectively strong group of guys who are ready to pitch anytime,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of the bullpen. “It’s easier said than done to be mentally focused and relaxed at the same time.”

Baltimore’s offensive struggles haven’t faded, with the team scoring more than two runs in just two of its past seven games. The Orioles are 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position across the first two games of the series.

“We have to make a little bit more contact,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “We’re not having the best of luck. We’re just not taking good enough at-bats to win games against good pitching staffs.”

The Orioles are hitting .215 as a team. The shortcomings on offense have become so obvious that pitchers have been quizzed about whether it puts extra pressure on them.

“The pitchers aren’t worried about that at all,” said Bruce Zimmermann, who was Baltimore’s starter Tuesday night.

There are other issues to address as well. Orioles third baseman Tyler Nevin left in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s game with a groin ailment.

“As I was out there, it was grabbing on me and it was getting a little sore,” Nevin said.

Hyde said he’s hopeful that Nevin will arrive at the stadium feeling better Wednesday, otherwise there might be just three reserves available unless there’s a roster move.

“We’re going to have to do something,” Hyde said.

Minnesota’s offensive highlights Tuesday included the first hit in the major leagues for Jose Miranda. His RBI double came in his second career game.

He played as the third baseman Monday and was used as the first baseman Tuesday night. That’s versatility that could benefit the Twins, who’ve won 11 of their past 12 games.

“I’ll play either one, wherever they want me,” Miranda said. “I just want to be in the lineup.”

–Field Level Media

The visiting New York Yankees will try to extend their 11-game winning streak and complete a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.

With DJ LeMahieu given the night off and Joey Gallo missing his third straight start because of a groin injury, the Yankees defeated the Blue Jays 9-1 Tuesday night.

Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton each homered and extended their hitting streaks to eight games for the Yankees, who have won four of six games this season against American League East rival Toronto.

The Yankees, who have the longest winning streak in the majors this year, also have won 13 of their past 14 games.

“Here in May, we’re trying to rack up as many wins as we can,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Any time you play well and you’re playing an intradivision game, it counts a little bit more — especially with a team that you think you might be competing against for something more. These are doubly important.”

The Blue Jays have lost two straight for the first time since Sept. 24, a span of 32 games. They have lost their first series of the season after going 6-0-1 in their first seven series. They split a four-games set with the Yankees April 11-14.

The Yankees will start left-hander Nestor Cortes (1-0, 1.31 ERA) on Wednesday. He allowed no runs, three hits and no walks while striking out five in 4 1/3 innings against Toronto on April 12 at Yankee Stadium. In eight career games (two starts) vs. Toronto, he is 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA.

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (0-1, 5.52) will face the Yankees for the second time this season. He allowed three runs (two earned), five hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings on April 12. He struck out two in a 4-0 loss. In five career starts against the Yankees, he is 1-3 with a 4.68 ERA.

Marwin Gonzalez played left field Tuesday for New York because he had been 3-for-6 against Toronto starter Alek Manoah. Manoah allowed only one run in six innings Tuesday, and Gonzalez did not have a hit against him. He did have two doubles against the Toronto bullpen. LeMahieu is 0-for-8 with four strikeouts against Manoah.

Gallo was on the field and took part in batting practice Tuesday, but Boone is being cautious with him.

“I know (Tuesday) was better than the day before, and I think we’re at least encouraged by what we saw, but soft-tissue things. … you just kind of want to err on the side of caution, especially this time of year,” Boone said. “Making sure he’s sound and ready to go. So we’ll see how he does pregame, and you know, I’m expecting it to go pretty well.”

The Blue Jays’ hitters continued to struggle. The team has eight runs in its past four games, which has been a trend this season.

“I know my offense is going to hit,” Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “It’s just that the first month, every game has been close, and we haven’t gotten it going offensively, but we will. I know it’s going to happen. Hopefully a couple of guys get hot. I’ve always said hitting is contagious.”

Help is on the way for Toronto. Teoscar Hernandez (oblique) could return to the lineup by Thursday, when the Blue Jays visit the Cleveland Guardians.

–Field Level Media