One day after Cody Bellinger had his season-best 12-game hitting streak snapped in a second consecutive loss for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Francisco Giants took the bat away from the National League MVP frontrunner.
Bellinger was intentionally walked in his first two plate appearances and three times overall. He became the 12th Dodgers player to receive three intentional walks and joined Mike Scioscia as the only players in franchise history with multiple games with as many in a single game.
Bellinger was allowed to swing the bat in the fifth inning, when he grounded out softly. He flied out to end the sixth inning.
Bellinger’s intentional walk in the third inning was followed by a Corey Seager RBI double. When Bellinger was intentionally walked in the eighth inning, it loaded the bases. Seager promptly broke the game open with a two-run double.
Considering the Giants’ strategy didn’t pan out, Bellinger anticipates there will be a change in Sunday’s series finale at Oracle Park, per Mike DiGiovanna of the L.A. Times:
“That was the game plan today, and Seager made them pay,” Bellinger said. “I think they probably won’t do that tomorrow. I think it was only a matter of time before [Seager] started to come around. When he does, it can be really scary.”
Although Seager finished with four RBI and tied a career high with four hits, Giants manager Bruce Bochy seemed content with his decisions:
“They’re both good hitters,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Bellinger and Seager. “It’s not a fun spot to be in, trust me. We were doing a good job of limiting damage early, but the big hit was in the eighth inning. That put it away.”
For Seager, the big performance added to what’s been a torrid stretch. The two-time Silver Slugger is rounding into form after a sluggish and inconsistent start to the 2019 season.
Seager is now batting .297/.370/.490 with 20 doubles, eight home runs and 38 RBI. He’s in the midst of a six-game hitting streak, with five being multi-hit performances. Seager leads the Dodgers in doubles and trails only Bellinger (54) for the team lead in RBI.
