Dodgers 3 Giants 2: PHEW

The Dodgers pulled out a late inning win, taking down the Giants in game one of the series.

With Clayton Kershaw and Johnny Cueto facing off the over/under for this game had to be like 1.5. So naturally, each team scored in the first.

The Dodgers started the night with a very Giantsy inning. Chase Utley was hit by a pitch. Corey Seager followed that up with a nub single up the line. Justin Turner squared to bunt, and I guess blocked Buster Posey‘s view because he missed the pitch and both runners moved up. Cueto, who is known for many different deceiving deliveries, rocked back and forth a few times and was called for a balk, which scored a run. Adrian Gonzalez followed that with a single to score Seager and make it 2-0.

Kershaw did not quite throw a #ShutdownInning, as he allowed a monster home run to Matt Duffy to make it 2-1. After that home run, neither team had a baserunner until Chase Utley was grazed by a pitch in the fifth. Cueto retired 13 Dodgers in a row and Kershaw retired 11 in a row before allowing two infield singles, but he got out of that jam in the fifth. The sixth wasn’t as kind to him, as another single was cashed in when Kershaw hung a curveball to Buster Posey, who is pretty much the one guy in the Giants’ lineup you don’t want to hang a curveball to. His double tied the game at two.

Each pitcher went eight innings and allowed two runs. Kershaw allowed two more hits than Cueto and struck out five more batters than him, but still somehow threw six fewer pitches. Kershaw now has 116 MORE strikeouts than walks this season following his 13 K/0 BB performance tonight, but his ERA skyrocketed to 1.55.

The Dodgers offense went to sleep once again, but broke out of it the second Cueto was pulled. Santiago Casilla was used in the ninth in a not-save situation (take note, Dave). Justin Turner greeted Casilla with a line-drive home run to left, to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Kenley Jansen came on and looked about as bad as he’s looked all season. His cutter wasn’t cutting and he wasn’t finishing his pitches at all, but after putting two runners on with two outs, he struck out Brandon Crawford to end the game.

So the Dodgers take the Kershaw start, which they pretty much always have to do. They now trail the Giants by three, meaning if they lose the next two games they’ll still only be five back, which is definitely not the worst-case scenario given how the teams started the season. Big win, especially considering how it happened.

Next: The Case for Trading Puig

Game two is scheduled to begin at 4:15 with Scott Kazmir getting the ball against Jeff Samardzija.