Dodgers 9 Giants 3: THEY HIT A LEFTY

The Dodgers hit a lefty! The Dodgers hit a lefty!

Everyone go buy lotto tickets. The Dodgers offense looked not-useless against a lefty starter.

Dodgers Starter

Kenta Maeda had a rough start to this one, allowing a run in each of the first two innings. On a normal night, allowing two runs when opposing a lefty starter would be an automatic loss. However, the offense did good things.

Maeda allowed a run in the first inning with some help from Carlos Ruiz. He allowed a leadoff walk, and then threw a slider that barely missed the strike zone, but got past Ruiz for a passed ball. Angel Pagan singled to right, and Yasiel Puig threw a dart that beat Denard Span to the plate by a few feet. Ruiz couldn’t handle it, and it ended up being an unearned run for the Giants.

The Giants added a run in the second, when Ehire Adrianza hit a homer to right. That is Adrianza’s second homer of the season, both of them coming against the Dodgers (the other one off Clayton Kershaw).

Other than that, Urias was mostly fine. His command wasn’t there early on, but he found it in his later innings. His pitch count was driven up a bit, so he completed only five innings for the second consecutive start.

Maeda’s final line was mostly fine. Five innings isn’t ideal, but working on regular rest and 30 starts in, it’s more important to keep him ready for game three of a postseason series. Maeda allowed three hits, two walks and two runs (one earned) in those five innings while striking out six.

Dodgers Offense

With lefty Matt Moore on the hill, the Dodgers had one of those lineups. However, the Dodgers scoffed at your “can’t hit lefties” narratives (that are totally true).

Howie Kendrick led off the game with a single and was replaced at first on a fielders’ choice. Justin Turner followed that up with a walk, and Adrian Gonzalez hit an RBI bloop single to tie the game. Puig untied the game rather quickly, crushing a three-runhomer to dead center to make it 4-1. The rally wasn’t killed by the homer, as Ruiz and Enrique Hernandez hit infield singles. After Charlie Culberson flied out to the track, Maeda lined a single to center to score a fifth run. Hernandez TOOTBLAN’d on it to end the first inning.

Kendrick led off the second inning by getting hit by a pitch, and Corey Seager singled him to third. This ended Moore’s night. Moore came a batter away from a no-no last time he pitched at Dodger Stadium, but was unable to record an out in the second this time around.

Matt Cain took over and allowed a sac fly to make it 6-2. He allowed two more runs in the third, as Kendrick hit a two-run double over Hunter Pence‘s head (and TOOTBLAN’d, for good measure).

Andrew Toles continued his incredible run with an RBI double in the fifth. There’s no way to justify Toles not making the playoff roster at this point. I’d even love to see him get a chance to win the starting spot in left next year.

Dodgers Bullpen

Julio Urias got some relief work in after Maeda’s night was done. He struggled in his first inning, as he allowed an infield single and a deep double to left to score a run. Urias finished off the sixth and seventh, so there’s still a chance he sticks this season as an arm in the pen.

Alex Wood made his first appearance since May 30th in the eighth inning. He needed 12 pitches for a 1-2-3 eighth, and looked really sharp. The possibility of him out of the pen in long relief is huge, and if a starter falters, he could come up huge in the postseason.

J.P. Howell got the ninth and allowed an infield single, but kept the Giants off the board.

Other Stuff

The win puts the magic number down to five and gives them a six game lead. With four games coming up against the Rockies at Dodger Stadium, there is still a chance of clinching at home. If not, San Diego seems like a likely clinching destination, and God please don’t let them wait until San Francisco to clinch.

Next: Chemistry Key to a Playoff Run

This game was much more fun than last night’s, and probably just as fun as Monday night’s.

The Rockies come to town tomorrow, with Brett Anderson getting the start for LA. Tyler Chatwood starts for Colorado.