Watchability Rankings: Bumgarner duels King Felix in must-see game

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Want to know which series, pitchers and players you should try to get tickets to see this week? SI.com's Watchability Rankings will give you the lowdown on the must-see games for the week ahead, including the best pitching matchup and the hottest hitter. Here are our picks for the week of June 15.

All stats are through Sunday, June 14.

Series To Watch: Giants vs. Dodgers, June 19–21

One of baseball's best rivalries is renewed this weekend, as the Giants head to Southern California to take on their longtime foe, the Dodgers. Los Angeles has opened a small lead in the National League West thanks to a San Francisco losing streak, but the gap remains a close one: Just 3 1/2 games after Sunday's action. And while this week's clash won't give us another Madison Bumgarner-Clayton Kershaw duel, expect a tight series nonetheless.

Others To Watch

Tigers vs. Yankees, June 19–21: Detroit heads to the Bronx for a three-game series, its first trip to New York this season, as Miguel Cabrera and Alex Rodriguez square off.

Pirates vs. Nationals, June 19–21: Two teams with playoff hopes meet in D.C. for a weekend set featuring two of the league's brightest stars in Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen.

Orioles vs. Blue Jays, June 19–21: Both of these squads are streaking up the AL East standings. They'll clash in Baltimore as they jockey for position in the division.

Cubs vs. Twins, June 19–21:Byron Buxton, meet Kris Bryant. The two super prospects will be front and center for this matchup of two young contenders.

Pitching Matchup To Watch: Madison Bumgarner vs. Felix Hernandez, June 17

It's hard to imagine a better matchup than this one. For the Giants, you have Bumgarner, who has been his usual ace self this season: a 3.16 ERA and 79 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings. For the Mariners, there's King Felix, who carries a 3.38 ERA and 82 whiffs in 82 2/3 frames. Hernandez, however, was rocked for eight runs in just 1/3 of an inning against Houston in his last start, while Bumgarner dazzled in his most recent turn, giving up just one run in eight innings against Arizona. For Seattle to have any hope of beating Bumgarner, it needs Hernandez to find his Cy Young form again.

Player To Watch: Giancarlo Stanton

Miami's young masher has been blasting everything in sight recently. Over the last week, Stanton crushed five homers and driven in 12 for a ridiculous .520/.586/1.280 stat line in 29 plate appearances. He leads all of baseball in home runs with 23, and he'll have plenty of chances to add to that total this week, as Miami hosts a four-game–home-and-home series with the Yankees before heading to the homer-happy haven that is Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati to face the Reds.