Steve Webb
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — In a game where minds of Dodger fans (and maybe Dodger players) were elsewhere, the Dodgers played a game that would have made play-by-play legend Vin Scully proud. They got out to a huge lead, only to see that lead evaporate to the thinnest of margins, but refused to collapse. They got a huge inning out of Evan Phillips at a critical time and tacked on in a big 8th inning to win the ballgame 9-5. It was the second straight win over the San Francisco Giants in this four-game set at Oracle Park.
Dodgers ride big inning to 4-0 lead
The Dodgers played a little bit of small ball in the second inning to put a crooked number on the board. They scored on an RBI single from Gavin Lux, a sacrifice fly from Cody Bellinger, an RBI single from Mookie Betts, and a second sacrifice fly from Trea Turner. Talk about taking what they will give you.
Two more runs puts Alex Wood on the ropes
In the third and fourth, the Dodgers continued to tack on, driving in a couple of runs off starter Alex Wood in the most opposite ways possible. First, after a couple of singles from Will Smith and Hanser Alberto, the Dodgers got a couple of productive ground outs to manufacture a run. First, Trayce Thompson moved a runner to third with fielder’s choice that retired Alberto. Then, Gavin Lux drove in his second run of the night with a slow bouncer halfway down the line on the right side. First baseman Brandon Belt tried to nail Smith at home, but Smitty slid in just under the tag for the Dodgers’ fifth run of the game.
Then, in the next frame, Mookie Betts decided to put a run on the board all by himself. On a 1-0 pitch from Wood, he blasted a 1-0 center-cut sinker to straightaway center. The ball easily cleared the fence, Betts rounded the bases with his 24th homer of the year, and the Dodgers had themselves a very comfortable 6-0 lead.
Anderson implosion leads to a tight game once again
Meanwhile, Dodger started Tyler Anderson seemed to be rolling on his way to his 12th victory of the year. Until he wasn’t. In the bottom of the fourth, Brandon Belt led off with a single and Yermin Mercedes popped out. But then, things went south very quickly. The Giants got four straight hits off Anderson and scored five very quick runs. The big blasts were an RBI double from David Villar and a two-run bomb off the bat of catcher Joey Bart. In the blink of an eye, the game had gone from a 6-0 laugher to a 6-5 nail-biter.
Huge Inning from Phillips preserves the lead
The turning point of the game came not in the bottom of the ninth, but in the sixth when Evan Phillips had to summon up all his superpowers to extricate himself from a massive jam.
To be fair, the jam wasn’t his doing. Tyler Anderson was running out of steam and walked the first two batters of the inning. Dave Roberts had seen enough and went to his pen for the righty Phillips to face Joey Bart, who had already homered in the game. This time Bart bunted himself a single, and the bases were loaded with Giants with nobody out. Phillips set to work. First, he struck out Lamonte Wade Jr. Then, he induced a little pop-up to Gavin Lux and Dixon Machado was called out on the infield fly rule. Finally, Phillips went to the fastball and struck out Austin Slater on some middle-in cheese. Somehow, Phillips had escaped with the Dodgers’ lead intact and the team never looked back.
Bottom of the order flex muscles in 8th
Clinging to a one-run lead, the Dodgers had an exciting inning in the 8th, scoring three times with a two-out rally. Gavin Lux started it off with his second hit of the day, a triple over the head of right fielder Luis Gonzalez. Then Austin Barnes banged a double to score Lux. Cody Bellinger followed that up with a triple of his own, and then Mookie Betts doubled to score Bellinger. It was an outburst that put the game away, and showed the Dodgers were not at all interested in handing a slim lead to Craig Kimbrel in the 9th. In fact, after Evan Phillips, it was the trio of Chris Martin, Alex Vesia, and David Price who finished off the Giants, each pitching a 1-2-3 frame to secure the victory.
It was the kind of exciting rivalry game that Vin Scully would have loved to be a part of. And I guess, in a way, he was.
Julio Urías to pitch Wednesday
The series rolls on with Game Three on Wednesday evening. Julio Urias is slated to make a start against Alex Cobb. And, with the righty Cobb on the mound, I wouldn’t be surprised if we got our first look at new Dodger Joey Gallo in this one. Hopefully, the Dodgers can unlock something in him because Muncy, Bellinger, and Gallo in the same lineup right now doesn’t exactly frighten opposing pitchers. The game will begin at 6:45 local time once again. Then, the series wraps up with a getaway matinee on Thursday afternoon.
Cans of Corn…
- Mookie Betts looked very good in this one, going 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBI.
- Trea’s hitting streak is still alive; he singled in the fourth.
- Love what the bottom of the order was doing in this one. Keep it up, boys!
- Let’s not panic about the Soto and Hader moves. They’re still the Padres.
- Not sure if we’re going to get more out of Joey Gallo than we could get from Jake Lamb. We’ll see.
- Sad to see Mitch White go. Very likable guy.
- RIP, Vinnie
