San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford doffs his hat for the last time to the San Francisco crowd at Oracle Park at the conclusion of Sun Oct 1, 2023’s game vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers. Crawford played for the Giants 13 years and won two World Series titles in 2012 and 2014. (@SFGiants photo)

By Michael Roberson

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Dodgers (100-62) reached the century mark of wins (100) on the last day of the regular season, as they defeated the San Francisco Giants (79-83) on a beautiful (Fan Appreciation Day) afternoon in Oracle Park.

“For us to get 100 wins here, I think a lot of good things happened; just a wonderful day in the Bay.” Stated Dodgers’ Manager Dave Roberts.

Roberts also expressed fondness for the exiting Brandon Crawford, and how that added to the special day. He mentioned the longtime competition against the veteran infielder.

In addition, Roberts commented on the longtime rivalry between the Giants and Dodgers on both coasts (East and West), “This rivalry runs deep in its long history, going back to its days in New York and Brooklyn.”

As for the game on the field, it got off to a slow start. Neither team registered a hit for nearly three full innings. However, Giants’ catcher Blake Sabol ended the hitless streak in the bottom of the third inning. Unfortunately he was left stranded on base as the third out occured before he could come home.

The Dodgers had the misfortune of leaving runners on base in the top of the first and third innings themselves. They were hitless until the Top of the sixth inning.

Catcher Will Smith – not the actor, even though he was responsible for a Big Hit himself – slapped a single past the shortstop getting LA started on their upcoming barrage.

The 6th inning became the most important for the Southern California visitors, as they scored all their runs during that particular frame of the game. Five runs to be exact.

Second baseman Amed Rasorio’s single through the middle of the infield scored Smith, then center fielder James Outman also singled to center, plating third baseman Max Muncy. This put the Dodgers up 2-0 in front of the 38, 359 fans, some of whom were rooting for the Angel City Avoiders.

Los Angeles was not done with the two run advantage, and got the eventual GW hit from their shortstop. Kike Hernandez belted a 3-run bomb to left/center and gave his team an apparent insurmountable 5-0 lead.

It didn’t take long for the Giants to avoid the shutout, as San Francisco third baseman Casey Schmitt opened the bottom of the sixth inning with a solo homer, bringing them within four runs, 5-1.

Now that the Dodgers seemed content with their four run lead, not much happened until Scmitt came up again, two innings.later. He opened the bottom of the eighth with another solo dinger out of the field of play. That ended up being the last run scored on the day, and it made the score a three run deficit for the Giants, 5-2. That was just the margin LA’s Hernandez created in the 6th inning.

With the game seemingly in the hands of the Dodgers, the Giants used the top of the 9th inning to give Brandon Crawford his proverbial flowers. On Fan Appreciation Day, Crawford was given a standing ovation as he entered the dugout for the last time as a Giant. All the fans were respectful and appreciative for what this player did for the Giants and MLB.

So on a very special day in the Bay, the Dodgers won 5-2 over the Giants.

The #2 seed Dodgers await their opponent in the National League version of the Major League Baseball Playoffs. The possible matchup could be the #3 Milwaukee Brewers or the #6 Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Giants will go into the offseason presumably searching for a new manager and bolstering their lineup for the 2024 season.

Note: Brandon Crawford played a whopping 1.655 games (7th most) for the Giants and ranks with legends of the franchise. As a shortstop, he is the All-time leader (1,616). As for the San Francisco iteration of the franchise, he ranks fourth behind absolute “Giants!” (Willie McCovey [2,256], Willie Mays [2,095] & Barry Bonds [1,976]).

Crawford earned two World Series titles with the San Francisco Giants in 2012 & 2014.