FSM Essential Recap: Dodgers vs Giants - Series 17

FSM Essential Recap: Dodgers vs Giants – Series 16

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Los Angeles Dodgers (31-22)  |  San Francisco Giants (32-21)

 

“Baseball is like driving, it’s the one who gets home safely that counts.”

– Tommy Lasorda

 

Game 4:

 

With Clayton Kershaw on the mound, the Dodgers lost their third straight game to the Giants on Sunday dropping the four-game series to their rivals to the north.

What a difference a week makes. After the Dodgers swept the Giants last weekend in San Francisco, the rivals returned the favor by winning Friday, Saturday, and Sunday this weekend at Dodger Stadium, including 5-4 in the series finale. Sunday was Kershaw’s 50th career start against the Giants and was memorable for everything it wasn’t.

Fifty starts is a lot against any opponent, the most Kershaw has battled any foe. He’s only the 33rd pitcher since 1901 to make 50 starts against the Giants. Only five of the others pitched in the last 50 years.

Even with the drubbing on Sunday, matching the most runs Kershaw has allowed in a game to the Giants, he still owns the best career ERA against them (1.89) by anyone with at least 10 starts.

Singles by the first two batters in the top of the first gave this game a feel similar to Saturday when San Francisco tallied 11 hits and seven runs against Julio Urías. After a wild pitch advanced both into scoring position, Kershaw got a strikeout and ground out, the latter allowing a run to score. But his first pitch to Mauricio Dubón — who over the last two weekends started at second base, third base, center field, and shortstop against the Dodgers — was tattooed high off the left field foul pole, with was notable for a few reasons.

 

Dubón’s shot was the 23rd home run hit by the Giants against Kershaw and to date the only one hit with a runner in scoring position. It was only the fifth two-run homer Kershaw has allowed to the Giants.

The dinger also gave San Francisco three runs in an inning for only the fourth time in 365 innings Kershaw has started against them. The last such game was September 13, 2013, when four straight singles were punctuated by run-scoring hits from Joaquin Arias and Brett Pill.

All four of those three-run innings were at Dodger Stadium.

“I kind of put the team in a tough spot in the first, and wasn’t able to make up for it,” Kershaw said.

 

Game 4 Boxscore:

 

WP: Kevin Gausman (6-0 / 1.40 ERA)

LP: Clayton Kershaw (7-4 / 3.33 ERA)

HR: Max Muncy (13), Albert Pujols (8); Mauricio Dubón (3), Andrew Slater (7)

 

Trevor Bauer will get the start on Monday against the Cardinals with an earlier start than usual start time— 6:10 p.m. with Jack Flaherty starts the series opener for St. Louis. The game can be seen on Spectrum SportsNet

 

 

Game 3:

 

Starting pitching has been the thread holding the Dodgers together this season, winding tighter and tighter to keep things together like the layers of depth were eaten away by various injuries. But on Saturday, everything unraveled for Julio Urías in an 11-6 loss to the Giants at Dodger Stadium.

San Francisco got to Urías for seven runs and 11 hits, both career highs for the left-hander, who allowed four runs on eight hits in his previous three starts combined. The damage was done by the fourth inning, but Urías remained in through the fifth, eating outs for a team that is carrying 14 pitchers.

That’s because there is another bullpen game coming on Tuesday, presumably the last one before Tony Gonsolin returns from the injured list, giving the Dodgers a legitimate fifth starting pitcher for the first time in a month. That’s the formula for now, and reliant on the four current members of the rotation to pitch deep every night, and for the most part they have.

All season, only three times has a non-injured starting pitcher — an actual starter, not the first pitcher in a bullpen game — not completed five innings for the Dodgers this season. Urías got to that threshold, but that’s about all he gave the Dodgers on Saturday.

It was a far cry from last Sunday in San Francisco when Urías retired his first 16 batters faced before allowing two runs on three hits in the sixth, his final inning. The Giants carried it over into Saturday, with multiple hits off Urías in each of the first four innings, scoring three runs in the second and two runs in each of the third and fourth.

“The fastball command wasn’t there,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “The breaking ball wasn’t as sharp. I thought the change was good, he just went to it in the fourth and fifth innings. But it comes down to the fastball wasn’t located.”

 

Seven runs and 11 hits are the most allowed by any Dodgers starting pitcher this season.

“I didn’t have my good stuff tonight, but to go out there and pitch five innings and give a little more length is something I can take away and feel good about,” Urías said through an interpreter.

Down five runs early — a true “minus game,” as Roberts likes to call it — the later innings became a parade of lower-leverage relievers, of which the Dodgers have plenty.

Phil Bickford, Mitch White, Alex Vesia, and Edwin Uceta, none of whom started the year in the majors recorded the final 12 outs, pushing the odometer forward another day.

“We have six of our leverage relievers that didn’t pick up a baseball today,” Roberts said.

Albert Pujols made history when he hit a  home run in the eighth inning. That home run that tied him with Babe Ruth for fourth-most extra-base hits in MLB history with 1,356.

 

Game 3 Boxscore:

 

WP: Logan Webb (4-3)

LP: Julio Urías (7-2)

HR: Max Muncy (12), Albert Pujols (7); Donovan Solano (2), Evan Longoria (8)

 

Clayton Kershaw starts the series finale on Sunday afternoon at 1:10 p.m. You can watch the game on SportsNet LA or  MLB Network if you’re out of town.  Kevin Gausman will start for the Giants.

 

 

Game 2:

 

The Dodgers and Giants played another close game, a regular feature of a rivalry that spans decades and multiple coasts. Friday night was no different, though definitely more thrilling than most. A low-scoring game evolved into a game of can you top this late, with the Giants scoring three in the 10th inning in an 8-5 win at Dodger Stadium.

Kenley Jansen started the 10th and allowed a single to score the unearned, free runner. Then he walked a batter and gave up a double to Evan Longoria, confounding Sheldon Neuse, playing his first game in right field as a professional.

This is not to say Neuse might have caught it — Statcast estimated a .550 expected batting average — but it was a bad route.

Longoria’s double scored two, the first earned runs allowed by Jansen in May.

The Dodgers couldn’t muster a second three-run comeback in as many innings in the bottom of the 10th, but how the game got there was a wild ride.

A tie game in the eighth quickly got away from Blake Treinen, and Buster Posey’s three-run home run looking like it would surely hold up for the Giants.

Treinen struck out Mike Tauchman to begin the eighth, but then hit Lamont Wade Jr. with a pitch and walked Mike Yastrzemski, both reaching with two strikes. Posey followed by hitting the second pitch he saw from Treinen over the left field wall.

Posey is having a resurgent year, with 10 home runs in 34 games, hitting .336/.415/.622  in 120 plate appearances. It was the second home run allowed by Treinen this season.

 

But it wasn’t even the last three-run home run to left field by a catcher in the game. Justin Turner and Will Smith each singled in the ninth against Tyler Rogers, then with two outs, pinch-hitter Austin Barnes followed with a three-run shot of his own.

It was the fifth extra-base hit for Barnes in his last eight games and the first pinch-hit home run of his career.

“It’s staying within yourself and taking aggressive swings in the zone,” Barnes said. “I’m doing a better job of doing a little bit of damage to the baseball.”

Albert Pujols was up next, and had designs on his 669th home run, nearly hitting a walk-off home run in the ninth. But Tauchman had other ideas.

“I thought Albert got it. The dugout was about to go crazy,” said Barnes. “It would have been fun.”

“Albert hit a homer,” said Walker Buehler. “It just so happened that guy jumped up and caught it.”

It was a surreal few minutes.

 

Game 2 Boxscore:

 

WP: Tyler Rogers (1-0)

LP: Kenley Jansen (0-2)

SV: Jarlin García (1)

HR: Matt Beaty (2), Austin Barnes (2); Steven Duggar (3), Buster Posey (10)

 

 

Julio Urías starts Saturday afternoon. The first pitch is at 4:15 on Fox. Urías trying to extend what is already his career-high hitting streak to three games, facing Giants right-hander Logan Webb, who will be activated off the injured list after missing 10 days with a right shoulder strain.

 

 

 

Game 1:

 

One of the most historic rivalries was back in action on Thursday night, and it delivered all the fireworks. The Dodgers and Giants went back-and-forth, with L.A. coming out on top. They picked up the 4-3 victory, their fourth win in four games against San Francisco this season.

Having not relied on the home run as much as previous seasons, the Dodgers only got their runs courtesy of the long ball tonight. The first came in the third inning. After back-to-back outs to begin the inning, Mookie Betts hit a triple to extend the inning and put the go-ahead run 90 feet away. Justin Turner stepped up and put the Dodgers on top with a two-run shot. It was his second in three games and ninth of the season.

Two innings later, it was DJ Peters’ turn. After hitting 92 home runs in the minors, Peters finally connected for the first home run of his major-league career. That’s a pretty awesome moment for a kid who grew up in Glendora, CA.

After the Giants tied things up in the sixth inning, the Dodgers took the lead back in dramatic fashion. Max Muncy stepped up to the plate to lead off the inning. After falling behind in the count, Muncy crushed his 11th homer to the stands, putting the Dodgers up one run.

 

Although his swing was glorious, his epic bat flip was even better. “Just looking for any mistake he made up in the zone and he finally made one,” Muncy said of former teammate Alex Wood. “It was a really good swing.”

“That’s one of the ones I just got too cute with. Thought I could sneak 92 past Max,” Wood said. “He’s a great hitter. One of the better hitters in the game. Two strikes don’t really matter to him. He controls the zone so well.”

David Price got the start, his second of the season. He threw 2 ²⁄₃ innings of scoreless ball and didn’t issue a single baserunner. He struck out five, which gave him 2,000 for his career, becoming the 84th pitcher to reach that milestone.

“Bullpen games can be a little tough because you got to string together games from seven, eight guys,” Muncy said. “D.P., his stuff was pretty electric and he set the tone for the rest of the bullpen.”

Since April 13, Price has been fantastic for L.A. He’s posted a 0.74 ERA, 12.5 SO/9, 1.5 BB/9, and 0.90 WHIP during this stretch. It looks as if he’s settling very well into this new role.

Alex Vesia, Joe Kelly, Victor Gonzalez, Nate Jones, Blake Treinen, and Kenley Jansen followed. Kelly and Gonzalez each allowed a home run, and for Gonzalez, it was the first allowed homer of his career. Treinen threw a 1-2-3 scoreless eighth with two strikeouts. Jansen then followed with a scoreless 1-2-3 ninth of his own. He also had two strikeouts and was throwing straight gas.

 

Game 1 Boxscore:

 

WP: Victor Gonzalez (2-0)

LP: Alex Wood (5-2)

SV: Kenley Jansen (12)

HR: Max Muncy (11) Justin Turner (9) DJ Peters (1) Evan Longoria (7) Donovan Solano (1)

 

 

The Dodgers and Giants are back at it tonight at Chavez Ravine. Walker Buehler takes the hill for the Dodgers while the Giants will start Anthony DeScalfani. The first pitch is slated for 7:10 and can be seen on SportsNet LA.

 

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– Joe Arrigo

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