Recap: Kershaw Labors Through 7, Bumgarner Quiets Dodgers Offense
The Dodgers came knocking on the door in the bottom of the fourth, which began with a single by Rollins. Kiké Hernandez drove a high fastball deep to center field that Pagan appeared to have a read on but the ball tipped off his glove and Hernandez had a double that left runners on second and third with no outs.
Kendrick grounded to Arias, who alertly threw to third to cut down Hernandez for the first out. However, Rollins managed to score on the play and the Dodgers cut their deficit to 2-1.
Arias led off the fifth with a single to right field, but Kershaw retired the next three batters he faced to end the inning. Following a two out walk to Ellis, Bumgarner induced his counterpart to hit a relatively routine grounder to shortstop.
However, Arias’ short-hopped his throw and Brandon Belt was unable to scoop it out of the dirt and Kershaw reached on the error. It didn’t cost the Giants as Arias made the play for the final out on Rollins’ grounder. Kershaw struck out Pagan to open the sixth and the Giants’ center fielder exchanged words with the home plate umpire after chasing a pitch a dirt.
Kershaw managed to solve Posey for the first time on the evening, getting him to ground out and Justin Maxwell followed suit. Hernandez hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth, but he wouldn’t advance any further and the Dodgers continued to trail, 2-1.
After Arias reached on a two-out infield single in the seventh, Bumgarner grounded to Uribe for the third out. It took Kershaw 92 pitches to complete seven innings for the first time this season. After Uribe extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a one-out single in the seventh, Ellis beat out a would-be double play to extend the inning.
Joc Pederson pinch-ran for Ellis and Yasmani Grandal pinch-hit for Kershaw, but it wouldn’t make a difference as Grandal struck out on a high fastball. J.P. Howell entered in the eighth and caught some bad luck as Aoki lined a leadoff base hit over Rollins’ head.
Following a force out at second base, Pagan singled up the middle to put two on with one out and it also knocked Howell out of the game. Pedro Baez came on in relief of the left-hander, got Posey to foul out and Maxwell to fly out.
Bumgarner eclipsed 100 pitches in the eighth inning as he retired the side, including striking out Hernandez and Justin Turner. Paco Rodriguez retired Belt for the first out in the ninth, then quickly got into a jam.
Rodriguez issued one-out walk, allowed a single and issued his second walk in the inning to load the bases with two outs. Manager Don Mattingly brought the hook and called on Sergio Santos, who kept the Dodgers within a run headed into the bottom of the ninth.
Sergio Casilla retired the Dodgers in order to complete the Giants’ 2-1 win, which improved their record against Los Angeles to 4-1 this season.
[divide]Andrew Friedman Discusses Moving Forward Without Brandon McCarthy
