Game One
[MONDAY] Clayton Kershaw started against Madison Bumgarner on National Left-Hander’s Day and pitched what is easy to call Kershaw’s very best start in 2018. Two runs of support were enough for Kershaw in his eight innings, but didn’t allow the bullpen to seal the win.
Kershaw simply dominated the Giants. In his outing, Kershaw went eight full innings, allowing one run on four hits and no walks. Kershaw also fanned nine batters in the game, improving on his one-strikeout performance in his previous start against the Athletics. Kershaw’s pitch count topped out at 110 pitches, putting him in solid position to collect his sixth win of the season.
Justin Turner hit the only big fly for either side in the game in the fifth inning off Madison Bumgarner. His solo shot extended the Dodgers’ lead that was originally gained on a bloop RBI double hit by none other than pitcher, Clayton Kershaw.
The bullpen that had recorded four consecutive blown saves in Colorado continued the streak in the single inning of relief work as Scott Alexander gave up three earned runs to earned the Dodgers’ fifth blown save in as many days. Alexander left the inning after recording only two outs, and was replaced by Pedro Baez. Kershaw would not receive the win.
The Dodgers lose to the Giants, 5-2. (Giants lead series, 1-0)
Game Two
[TUESDAY] Alex Wood pitched well while being left on the hook for the loss, but a comeback helped Wood to a no-decision. However, the second piece of that deal was another ninth inning deconstruction of the Dodgers’ bullpen, moving the losing streak to five games.
Wood pitched a strong six innings, allowing only one run on three hits and a walk. Wood left the game with a final strikeout total of six. Wood’s only weakness seemed to be pitch count, as he threw 92 pitches in a hurry. Nonetheless, Wood pitched great.
The Dodgers entire offense was provided by one-swing off the bat of the recently RBI-missing Manny Machado. Moving into the two-hole in the lineup for the Dodgers created less RBI opportunities for Machado, which began the longest RBI drought of Machado’s career. But tonight, Machado was able to slap a base hit to left field and plate Justin Turner to tie the game.
Tempers flared in the seventh inning, as Giants’ catcher, Nick Hundley, and Dodgers’ right fielder, Yasiel Puig, made benches clear with their argument. Hundley initiated the dialogue between himself and Puig until talking became contact. Puig initiated contact with a shove while Hundley began sizing up to Puig. The shove emptied benches and bullpens. The mouth of Nick Hundley began the argument, while Yasiel Puig’s shove began the brawl. Both players were ejected from play.
Kenta Maeda came on in the ninth inning after just recently moving out of the starting rotation and into the bullpen. However, Maeda’s bullpen debut didn’t go exactly as planned, as Maeda gave up three hits which yielded the winning run. Maeda was credited with the loss, his eighth of the season.
The Dodgers lose to the Giants, 2-1. (Giants lead series, 2-0)
Game Three
[WEDNESDAY] Hyun-Jin Ryu was electric in his return from a 60-day DL stint, tossing six innings of shutout baseball. However, the Dodgers bullpen didn’t allow Ryu to collect the win in his effort. The Dodgers did storm back to win in walkoff fashion however, snapping the five-game losing streak.
In Ryu’s aforementioned six inning performance he allowed no runs and no walks, giving up three hits while fanning six. While Ryu did seem to be a little finicky with control to start the game, he quickly settled in and polished off a great game.
The Dodgers scored first in the game, as Joc Pederson hit a sac-fly to bring home Yasiel Puig from third in the sixth inning. The very next inning, the Dodgers collected two more runs on RBI base hits from Manny Machado and Matt Kemp. The Dodgers wouldn’t score again until the bottom of the twelfth inning when Brian Dozier hit a sac-fly to win the game.
Caleb Ferguson took the mound to begin the eighth inning after a scoreless seventh from J.T. Chargois. Ferguson was able to record two outs in the eight in the midst of earning his first career Major League blown save, giving up a three-run homer to Andrew McCutchen. Erik Goeddel would come on after recently coming off the disabled list and throw a perfect game through the finish of his outing, following the ninth inning.
Scott Alexander and Pedro Baez came on to handle business in extras and did not disappoint. Alexander pitched a scoreless inning in the tenth, giving up a hit and a walk, while Baez threw two perfect innings. It’s great to see pitchers who recently struggled come on and perform well in crunch time.
Pedro Baez was awarded the win after allowing no hits, no walks, no runs, and striking out two in his two very strong innings for the Dodgers.
The Dodgers defeat the Giants, 4-3. (Giants win series, 2-1)
Dodgers-LowDown ‘Player of the Series’
A player who has yet to receive this award while tearing it up overall in August is Justin Turner, and in this series, he’s the easy choice. Turner put up one of the best three-game performances we’ve seen out of him this season in baseball’s best rivalry.
Turner’s Final Line:
- 13 AB
- 6 H (1 HR)
- 1 RBI
- 3 R
- 1 BB
Arrick Joel has covered the Dodgers since 2017, and for Dodgers-LowDown since 2018. Follow @ArrickJoel and @DodgersLowDown on Twitter for more.