Los Angeles (NL). 2. 13. 2
San Francisco. 3. 5. 1
Saturday, June 11, 2022
By Lewis Rubman
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Klayton Kershaw surrendered a two run RBI in the bottom of the second inning to the San Francisco Giants Luis Gonzalez at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sat Jun 11, 2022 (AP News photo)
SAN FRANCISCO–A bullpen resembles Alka Seltzer; plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh, what a relief it is! That is, except when the pitchers in it aren’t unanimously effective. Then it’s flop, flop, hiss, hiss. In bullpen games, where your opener is a relief pitcher by trade, the risks and rewards of reliance on the bullpen are multiplied exponentially.
In this afternoon’s game the rewards exceeded the risks, as the. outhit Giants salvaged a thrilling 3-2 win over the hated rivals from the south.
The Dodgers sent the same lineup to this plate as they did last night , although Max Muncy and Justin Turner exchanged bench positions. Muncy, who had been at third in LA’s losing effort on Friday, was today’s DH, and Turner switched from DH to the hot corner.
Their choice for starting pitcher was Clayton Kershaw, who came off the injured list today to resume a campaign in which he was 4-0,1.80 with a total of 30 innings pitched in his five starts. He has struck out more opposing batters than any other Dodger pitcher ever and has the lowest ERA and WHIP of any starting pitcher in major league history with more than 1,500 IP.
The Giants’ lineup featured some significant overnight changes. Most notable were the addition of newcomer Austin Wynns as the designated hitter and the installation of the freshly recalled Heloit Ramos in right field, batting third, between Darin Ruf, who was stationed at first base, and Wilmer Flores, who was shifted to third.
Ramos took the roster spot of Jakob Junis, who was placed on the 15 day injured list because of the hamstring sprain that caused his early exit from last night´s contest. on the roster.
The Giants got to Kershaw in the bottom of the second when Tairo Estrada took him deep, 372 feet deep, into the left field bleachers on an 86 MPH slider, a pitch that the Dodger starter had been using frequently and effectively til then. The one out blast put the home team up 1-0, a lead that they doubled on a walk to Crawford and singles by Wynns and González.
Three innings was the extent of Long´s short mandate. In that time, he threw 48 pitches, 28 of which were balls. He gave up three hits but kept the Angelinos off the board. He struck out one and didn’t issue a single free pass. His successor was Tyler Rogers, he of the weirdly spinning submarine delivery.
71 pitches over four innings would be Keshaw’s limit in his return to active duty. He allowed two runs, both earned, on three hits and two walks, with four Ks before Yency Almonte replaced him to start the bottom of the fifth.
It was Dominic Leone on the mound for San Francisco after Rogers had finished his assigned two innings. Also on the field in the top of the sixth for the orange and black were Mike Yastrzemski in center and Joc Pederson in left, who had pinch hit the previous frame for Slater and Ramos, respectively.
After Estrada led off the Giants’ half of the sixth with a ground out to second that almost hit Almonte in the face, the right handed pitcher was sent to the showers, handing his chores over to southpaw Alex Vesia.
Zack Littell mounted the pitching merry-go-round for San Francisco to open the seventh. The merry-go-round broke down. The first two batters he faced, Chris Taylor and Gavin Lux, took him to full counts. The first walked, and the second bounced a single up the middle that just barely evaded Crawford’s glove.
Then Mookie Betts hit a hard grounder to the side that got past Flores. Crawford made a nice play on it, but his throw to second was late, and the Dodgers had the bases loaded with none out and Freddie Freeman coming to bat. That did it for Littell.
Jarlín García was called on to face the power first sacker. The count reached 3-2, and Freeman swung at and missed a 94 mph four seamer. And then clean up hitter Trea Turner hit into a beautiful U4-3 double play, preserving the Giants’ precarious lead.
Caleb Ferguson took over for LA after the seventh inning stretch and, with a little help from a pitcher´s best friend, kept the Giants from capitalizing on the momentum García’s performance had generated.
And then the momentum shifted. With one out in the top of the eighth, Will Smith singled to left. Justin Turner grounded to second, where Estrada couldn’t handle the ball, which reached right field, allowing Smith to reach third.
Bellinger then unloaded on a hanging slider for a rule book double that bounced into the left center field bleachers, driving in Smith, sending Turner to third, and ending García’s moment of glory. Camilo Doval entered the fray and walked Chris Taylor on a full count.
The bases once more were loaded with Dodgers. This time Lux was at the plate, batting .298. Doval struck him out swinging on a wicked slider.
Now the batter was Mookie Betts, batting .284 with 16 home runs. He took three straight balls. Doval then threw three consecutive, not straight strikes, the last another lead -preserving wicked slider.
Craig Kembrel was entrusted to try to keep the game within reach in the bottom of the eighth. He began inauspiciously, yielding a lead off single to right to Pederson, unleashing a wild pitch to Flores, who eventually walked, and walking Estrada on four pitches.
Suddenly, on this sun filled afternoon, the bases were fog, full of Giants. Los Angeles had no choice but to bring the infield in for Crawford. That was in vain. There’s no defense against a wild pitch, which is what Kembrel threw on a 1-1 count to the Giants’ shortstop.
Crawford ended up striking out, but the home team now led 3-1, and Evan Phillips, who relieved Kembrel, was faced with the ticklish situation of pitching to Wynns with runners on second and third and only one out. Wynns went down swinging, and so did Casali.
The Giants had used six pitchers, and the bullpen was asked to provide one more arm to hold off the Dodgers for three more outs. That arm belonged to José Alvarez, looking for his first save of the year.
It wasn’t pretty. Freddie Freeman tagged him for a 403 foot four bagger to right center to lead off the ninth. Trea Turner followed that with a single to left. Alvarez recovered to fan Muncy and get Smith to force Turner at second on a grounder to third that almost was a double play. Enter Hanser Alberto, pinch hitting for Justin Turner.
He sent a dinky bounder to third that went for an infield single that brought Bellinger to bat with the potential tying run in scoring position and the potential leading run on base. Bellinger hit a hard grounder to second, and Estrada made a grand play to throw him out at first.
Doval , now 2-2, 2,84, was the winning pitcher. Kershaw was charged with his first loss of 2022. And Alvarez got his first save.
Plop, plop! Fizz, Fizz.
Dodgers starter Julio Urías (3-5, 2.78) will try to prevent a Giant sweep on Sunday. The Giants Carlos Rodón (4-4,3.51) will try to help them achieve it.
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