Smith solo shot the difference in Dodgers’ win against Giants

LOS ANGELES — Not quite sure how they did it, but the Dodgers came away victorious against San Francisco on Monday night. They got back-to-back home runs to start the game, and then a solo jack from Will Smith in the fourth, and somehow, the Dodgers pitchers made it hold up, even though it seemed like they were in a jam in every inning. Nevertheless, they limited the damage to two solo homers from the Giants and escaped with a 3-2 victory.

Dodgers pitchers frustrate Giants

Going for a fourth straight win after four straight losses, the Dodgers handed the ball to Trevor Bauer in this first game of a two-game set against the division-leading Giants. Bauer pitched around a lead-off single from Lamonte Wade Jr. in the top of the first to put up a scoreless frame, and that would set the pattern for most of the night. The Giants went down 1-2-3 in only one inning in this game: the fifth. In every other frame, there was somebody in black and orange on the basepaths, and often more than one.

Still, Bauer and the other Dodger pitchers made the big pitches when they needed to and danced between the raindrops all night long. The Giants left eleven men on base on Monday, and hit 0-for-13 with RISP. There is surely going to be a lot of head shaking going on at the hotel room after the last out as this was a very winnable game for the visitors.

Betts and Muncy go back-to-back

But before all the nail-biting started, the Dodgers got out of the blocks in glorious fashion. In the bottom of the first, Mookie Betts led off with a solid home run to left center off Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani. Betts, who was 2-for-3 with a walk tonight, ripped a 2-0 four seamer that DeSclafani left in the heart of the plate. Three pitches into the inning, the Dodgers were on the board.

Not to be outdone, Max Muncy decided to jack one out of here himself four pitches later. Muncy pulled a no-doubter to right field on a 1-2 count, further making the case that he should be an All-Star starter.

Will Smith provides the winning margin

With two big flies on seven pitches, it looked like DeSclafani might be in for a very rough night. But, somehow he managed to right the ship and actually ended up pitching a pretty decent ball game, only giving up three more hits in five innings of work. Unfortunately for him, one of those three hits was the deciding blow in the game: a Will Smith solo home run to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Smith took a cement mixer in the heart of the plate and turned it around for the Dodgers’ third run of the game. Smith, now with ten home runs on the year, now has four homers in June, and is on track to have a nice season if he can make more consistent contact at the plate.

Bauer goes six in the win

As for Trevor Bauer, it wasn’t his best outing by any means, but he pitched well enough to get his eighth win of the year. He gave up only two solo home runs, one from Lamonte Wade Jr. in the third and the other from Brandon Crawford in the sixth. The Crawford shot was absolutely crushed, a 444-foot blast that left his bat in a hurry. It was Crawford’s longest homer of the Statcast era, and hit cut the margin to 3-2.

However, Bauer would gather himself and get out of the inning, ending the night with a pretty decent line: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 8 K. He still needs to work on giving up the long ball, as these two brought his season total up to 19, second highest in the National League. Nevertheless, he was able to bear down with runners on base and limit the damage, so for that, it was a good night’s work.

Relief pitchers bend, but don’t break

The Dodgers brought in the “A-team” of relief pitchers to nail this one down, and each had adventures before getting out of his inning unscathed. Victor Gonzalez hit a batter, and gave up a walk before he settled down and got out of the seventh. Pitching in the eighth, Blake Treinen gave up a hit and walk, but he too was able to wriggle off the hook without surrendering a run.

In the ninth, it was Kenley Jansen‘s turn. He gave up a lead-off single to Mike Tauchman, but when the ball scooted away from Cody Bellinger in the outfield, Tauchman tried to take second. Bellinger fired a strike to Chris Taylor covering the bag and Tauchman was out, but barely. The play had to go to review and it seemed like he had lost contact with the bag ever so slightly with the tag still applied. Either way it was the first out of the inning, and the tying run had just been cut down.

Jansen was able to retire the next two batters without incident to preserve the Dodgers’ win and get his 19th save of the season. The big man’s ERA dropped even further, to 1.42, and he has not given up a single earned run in the entire month of June.

One more with the Giants on Tuesday

With the win, the Dodgers inched to within 2.5 games of the first place Giants. Tuesday’s match-up on the mound should be a dandy. Walker Buehler (7-1, 2.51) vs. Kevin Gausman (8-1, 1.49). 7:10 start time for this last game on this six-game homestand. Then, it’s a day off on Wednesday and off to the nation’s capital for a weekend series with the Nats.