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HOUSTON — After the news broke that Astros third baseman Alex Bregman had accomplished something never previously done by a player at his position Josh Reddick Jersey , someone somewhere suggested he’d receive the Barry Bonds treatment when he came to the plate in high-leverage situations.During the Astros’ interleague series victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bregman appeared to experience that cautious approach, producing a .538 on-base percentage despite recording only one base hit: an infield single that ricocheted off Diamondbacks reliever Silvino Bracho in the sixth inning on Saturday. Bregman finished 1-for-7 in the series yet drew five walks, two intentional, and was hit by a pitch in his final plate appearance of the weekend.“At his best, he walks even in the middle of his hot streaks,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of Bregman, who is the first third baseman to record 30 home runs and 50 doubles in a season. “I do think people are pitching him pretty carefully and we’re seeing that probably a little more.”Article continues below ...The Astros (94-55) are 7-0-1 over their last eight series and 12-2 this month. They will host the Seattle Mariners for a three-game series starting on Monday at Minute Maid Park.The winner of the set will claim the season series, which is knotted at 8-8. Houston won the season series against the four other American League West teams en route to the 2017 World Series and has clinched the season series against its three division rivals excluding Seattle already this season.Rookie left-hander Framber Valdez (3-1, 2.66 ERA) will make his fifth career start and sixth appearance on Monday against the Mariners. He made his debut in Seattle on Aug. 21, allowing one unearned run on two hits and one walk with four strikeouts over 4 1/3 relief innings, earning the victory in the Astros’ 3-2 win at Safeco Field. Over four subsequent starts Tyler Clippard Jersey , Valdez has surrendered seven runs on 14 hits and 13 walks with 14 strikeouts over 19 1/3 innings.Left-hander Wade LeBlanc (8-4, 3.56 ERA) will start the series opener for the Mariners. He has worked a career-high 146 2/3 innings over 29 appearances (24 starts) and is 1-1 with a 1.13 ERA over his last four starts. LeBlanc has faced the Astros five times (including three starts) this season, going 1-1 with an 8.31 ERA. He is 1-1 with a 6.32 ERA over nine career appearances (five starts) against the Astros.The Mariners (82-67) are expecting both left-hander James Paxton and right-hander Felix Hernandez to rejoin the rotation at some point during their current 10-game road trip. Paxton, who last pitched on Sept. 7 against the New York Yankees, has been sidelined by pneumonia. He is scheduled to throw a bullpen session upon his return prior to making his 27th start.Hernandez has been hampered by right hamstring soreness that caused him to exit his start against the Yankees on Sept. 8 after allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks over four innings. He threw over the weekend in Seattle and could rejoin the rotation in time to pitch in Houston.Hernandez made a start against the Astros on Aug. 20, his first following a brief demotion to the bullpen and first career relief appearance. He did not factor into the decision in that 7-4 home win after allowing four runs on five hits and two walks with six strikeouts over six innings. SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Giants get an opportunity to play spoiler against the team they’d most enjoy spoiling — the Los Angeles Dodgers — when the longtime rivals close out the regular season with a three-game series that begins Friday night.Giants ace Madison Bumgarner (6-6, 3.20 ERA), the star of his last AT&T Park appearance with his bat, is scheduled to duel Dodgers left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu (6-3, 2.00), who pitched brilliantly the last time he faced San Francisco.The Dodgers (88-71) enter the series with a chance to win the National League West, capture an NL wild card or miss the playoff entirely Marwin Gonzalez Jersey , all to be determined within three games against a team that has beaten them nine of 16 this season.Article continues below ...LA will take the field Friday night one game behind the Colorado Rockies (89-70) in the West, and one game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals (87-72) in the wild-card race. The Rockies host the Washington Nationals on Friday night, and the Cardinals begin a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.The Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers and Atlanta Braves have all already clinched playoff spots in the NL.“Not how we scripted it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after Wednesday’s second consecutive loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, which dropped LA into second place.“We’re a very dangerous team. I know we believe in ourselves. Now our focus has to turn to the Giants.”Ryu has been the Dodgers’ hottest pitcher of late, coming off back-to-back shutout efforts covering a total of 13 innings against Colorado and San Diego. He has allowed just eight hits in those two wins.The 31-year-old has faced the Giants 14 times in his career, going 4-6 with a 3.09 ERA. He’s 4-3 with a 3.38 ERA in eight starts in San Francisco.Evan Longoria and Brandon Crawford homered against Ryu in an earlier meeting this season at AT&T Park, a game the Giants won 6-4 in April. But Ryu got a measure of revenge in an Aug. 15 start in LA, pitching six innings of three-hit, shutout ball.He’ll be facing a Giants team that has been out of playoff contention for more than a month. They’ve lost six of their last seven, including a three-game sweep last week at the hands of the Cardinals http://www.angelsfanproshop.com/authentic-mike-trout-jersey , who gained ground on the Dodgers in the process.Joe Panik, who began the season with consecutive game-winning home runs against the Dodgers, believes the Giants still have some fight in them.“We’re all playing for pride, for the Giants name on the front of the jersey,” he said after Wednesday’s 3-2 home loss to San Diego. “The rivalry with the Dodgers, having them at home, they’ve got these games on the line … that’s going to give us a little extra incentive to lay it all out there.”Bumgarner beat the Dodgers 5-2 on Aug. 13, allowing a home run to Justin Turner among seven hits in six innings.He also lost a 3-1 decision in LA in June when Matt Kemp and Enrique Hernandez took him deep.Bumgarner has more career wins against the Dodgers (15) than any other team. He has gone 15-10 with a 2.61 ERA in 31 meetings, including 30 starts.The respected hitter was last seen pinch-hitting in the 12th inning against the Padres on Tuesday night. He delivered his first career walk-off hit, a single that ended a 5-4 win.Bumgarner has gone 2-for-10 with four strikeouts in his career against Ryu.