Urias wins 16th as Dodgers climb into a first place tie

SAN FRANCISCO — The most important thing in baseball is a short memory. After a rough loss in the series opener on Friday, the Dodgers scored early, and coasted to a pretty easy 6-1 victory over the Giants on Saturday. With a solid start from Julio Urias and a pretty good night at the plate, the Dodgers now are back in a flat-footed tie with the Giants atop the NL West.

Trea leads off with a big fly

The Dodgers didn’t waste any time erasing the bad vibes of Friday night’s loss. Trea Turner, who made the fateful error in the eleventh inning, led off the game and went right to work. On the sixth pitch of the ballgame, Turner hit a long drive to centerfield off Giants opener Jay Jackson. It looked like outfielder Austin Slater might have a play on the ball, but in the end the wind pushed it just over the fence for a wallscraper of a home run.

Dodgers put two more on the board in the first

Up 1-0, the Dodgers used some patience and speed to manufacture a couple more runs in the inning. First, Mookie Betts drew a one-out walk. He promptly stole second and was standing on the bag when Justin Turner drew a walk of his own. Then, with Corey Seager at the plate, the Dodgers pulled off a double steal to put both Betts and Turner into scoring position. Corey Seager was kind enough to supply a sacrifice fly to score Betts, and then AJ Pollock ripped a two-out double to send Turner home with the Dodgers’ third run.

Pollock leaves game after awkward slide

Unfortunately, Pollock strained a hammy trying to steal third and had to be removed from the game. After the game, skipper Dave Roberts was a little cautious with his diagnosis, but indicated that Pollo had a grade two strain on his hamstring, and will probably be out a couple of weeks minimum. We’ll have to keep an eye on that. Pollock’s bat has been crucial to the team’s success this season, so an extended absence this close to the postseason would be most unwelcome.

Urias surrenders one run early

The Dodgers’ starter on Saturday night was Julio Urias, who was leading the NL going into the game with 15 wins on the season. Much of that was due to some very healthy run support, but nevertheless Julio has gotten stronger as the season has progressed. In the first inning, though, the Giants were able to touch him up for a run on three hits. The key hit was a two-out opposite field double from catcher Buster Posey, who drove home a run with a nice piece of hitting. However, Urias was able to strike out first baseman Brandon Belt to end the threat and escape the inning with a 3-1 lead.

Middle innings quiet

With four runs scored in the first inning, it looked like it might be a track meet at Oracle Park in this one. However, the Giants’ pitchers really settled down after the first. The Dodgers only got one garbage run in the middle of the game, which came in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Justin Turner got on base with an infield single that shortstop Mauricio Dubon airmailed across the diamond to send Turner to second.

Then, JT was able to advance on a wild pitch that looked like a cross-up between pitcher Jose Quintana and Buster Posey. Finally, Quintana was called for a balk when he failed to stop adequately during his stretch. Turner was able to walk home with the Dodgers’ fourth run of the night. It was probably a welcome change for Turner who was tagged out at home a couple of times on Friday night.

Urias solid, exits in sixth

Meanwhile, Julio Urias was his usual self on Saturday. He had a bit more traffic than he is probably used to, but he continues to impress when he has runners in scoring position behind him. Other than that early run in the first, Urias was perfect, keeping the homer-happy Giants in the ballpark all night, and surrendering eight hits, but walking nobody and making the big pitches when necessary. His line for the evening: 5.2 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 8 K.

Bullpen lights out in relief

Though Urias didn’t get a “quality start”, the bullpen behind him was more than up to the task of bringing the game to a successful conclusion. Alex Vesia got the final out of the sixth. Phil Bickford was a little wild, but didn’t give up any runs in the seventh. Blake Treinen was Blake Treinen for 1.1 innings, and Brusdar Graterol finished things up in the ninth.

Corey and Tio Albert drive in late runs

Though the Dodgers had more runs than they would need, they added a couple of late runs in the ninth to allow Kenley Jansen to sit this one out. Corey Seager led off the inning with a call to the HR department, hitting a long drive to centerfield off reliever Sammy Long. It capped off another good game at the plate for Seager, who now has five hits and two RBI so far this weekend.

Later in the inning, had men on second and third, thanks to a walk and some sloppy Giant defense. Albert Pujols came off the bench to pinch hit, and drove a ball deep to right field that was plenty deep to score the Dodgers’ sixth run from third. It was a nice at-bat for Pujols, who still needs to put the ball in the air more often in his appearances. The Dodgers didn’t score any further, but with a comfortable lead, Kenley Jansen is still available for the series finale, and for that, Dodgers’ fans can be grateful.

Deadlocked again

So now, the Dodgers and Giants have identical 86-50 records, and have split the eighteen head to head matchups this season. Which means, the series finale on Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN is going to be kind of a big deal. Walker Buehler gets the ball, and the Giants will go with another bullpen game to try to survive the weekend with this depleted staff. It would be very nice to leave town tomorrow in sole possession of first place with four weeks to go. Let’s do this!