By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, March 6, 2016

AP photo: San Francisco Giants pitcher Jeff Smardzija throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during first inning of Sunday’s game

SCOTTSDALE – The rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants that started in 1883 is as heated as ever, even in Spring Training.

This day, the Dodger faithful who were part of the sellout crowd of 12,127 departed happily from Scottsdale Stadium after Los Angeles defeated San Francisco 5-2. They were part of a boisterous crowd that roared and cat-called loud and often throughout the afternoon – an unusually intense crowd for an exhibition contest.

“It’s a rivalry, for sure,” Giants starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija said. “I’ve been a part of a few of them, so I understand. I love it. That’s what sports are all about, man. When you get two passionate fan bases and they’re probably yelling at each other more than the players are, that’s a good time. That’s why we play these games.

“If you don’t enjoy these games, you need to get your pulse checked.”

Samardzija compared it to other rivalries he’s been a part of, like the Cubs and Cardinals when he was pitching in Chicago.

“When (the Cubs) were good enough to make it a rivalry with the Cardinals, it was fun,” Samardzija said. “It’s not so much which one is the biggest – I remember when we had a down team coming in, or they had a down team going in, it never really mattered.

“There’s so much passion and so much at stake, that you throw a lot of things out the window and leave it all out on the field.”

“For a player in general, you’re just here to work on some things, so you have to balance the things you have to work on with it being an exhibition game. You just want to work on some things and understand some people do take this seriously.”

On Sunday, the pitches Samardzija worked on was his slider, and split-finger fastball, along with smoothing out his fastball.

“In the bullpen, I thought my fastball was good enough to where I was OK with it, and it was good today,” Samardzija said. “Then, I was able to move on to my secondary pitches today. I thought I threw a couple of good splits. Obviously the one Micah (Johnson) hit was up and I’d like to have that down a little.

“It’s nice when you can check some things off your list, and when that fastball is good early in the game in spring training, you can move on to other things. That’s what we’re out here for,” he added, “If you’re wasting 50 pitches on getting your heater location, you’re way behind.”

Samardzija, one of the Giants’ key free agent acquisitions in the off-season, struck out the side (Carl Crawford, Joe Pedersen and Yasiel Puig) in the first inning, and threw a double-play ball to A.J. Ellis in the second.

Samardzija faced seven batters in the third, but worked out of bases-loaded jam when he struck out Chase Utley on a slider. In his three innings, Samardzija gave up one earned run on five hits, struck out five and didn’t issue a walk.

“Every time you come out, you want to have a strong first inning,” Samardzija said. “Speaking from experience, it makes the day a little bit longer when that first inning is a grind. In my career, I’ve been big on trying to improve in that first inning, and have a nice balance of being under control and still have enough excitement and fire to take that inning seriously.”

THE GAME
The Dodgers prevailed behind an 11-hit attack, led by two hits each by Crawford, Scott Van Slyke and Charlie Culberson. Crawford and Culberson each drove in two Los Angeles runs.

Dodger pitching held San Francisco to five hits. Reliever Ross Stirpling (1-0) threw two innings of shutout ball to earn the win. Logan Bawcom, borrowed from the LA minor league camp, faced four batters and earned the save.

Clayton Blackburn (0-1), who replaced Samardzija in the fourth, gave up the go-ahead runs in the fifth and took the loss.

“We’re playing well defensively,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. “But we’re hitting into double plays and that killed us today.”

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