The Los Angeles Dodgers have enjoyed a strong to start the spring, and that was again the case on Wednesday night when they defeated the San Francisco Giants, 4-0, to improve their Cactus League record to 7-4-1.
The offense came out swinging against veteran starter Johnny Cueto as Max Muncy doubled before Justin Turner was hit by a pitch in his left hand. Then with two outs, AJ Pollock roped a double into the gap to bring home both runners.
While Turner being hit by a pitch was a scare, he was able to stay in the game for the time being. He stepped to the plate for his second at-bat in the bottom of the third and showed no signs of an injury by launching a two-run home run to left off Cueto.
Turner has been tearing the cover off the ball this spring, hitting .417 with a 1.310 on-base plus slugging percentage in limited action. He was removed from the game after the home run to undergo X-rays on his hand, which came back negative.
Handling business. pic.twitter.com/ehvxTKcmtT
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) March 5, 2020
On the mound, Clayton Kershaw made his second start of the spring and looked like he was in midseason form. The southpaw tossed three shutout innings, allowing just two singles while striking out four with zero walks. He has pitched 4.2 shutout innings with eight strikeouts in his first two outings of the spring.
Kershaw appeared to retaliate for Turner being hit when he plunked Rob Brantly with two outs in the second inning. Kershaw and San Francisco Giants third-base coach Ron Wotus then exchanged words as each headed to their respective dugout between innings.
Home-plate umpire Tom Woodring stepped in front of Kershaw and escorted him to the dugout. Woodring then spoke with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and issue warnings to both teams.
The Dodgers’ bullpen was flawless in relief of Kershaw as Pedro Baez, Joe Kelly, Scott Alexander, Zach McAllister, Edubray Ramos and Brusdar Graterol combined to toss six innings while giving up five hits and collecting 10 strikeouts against zero walks to complete the shutout.
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