The marquee pitcher’s duel came a day early. Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw meet Saturday for the eighth time, easily billed the best matchup of the four-game Giants-Dodgers series.
A Dodgers’ right-hander named Ross Stripling, who hasn’t been around long enough to know any better, took it upon himself to upstage Bumgarner and Kershaw, two of the game’s greatest stars.
Stripling, 26, in his major-league debut and two years removed from Tommy John surgery, tossed 7 1/3 hitless innings in a 3-2 Giants victory on a rainy Friday night, only to be removed before given a chance to throw a no-hitter.