Hyun-Jin Ryu was stellar in his return from the 60-day disabled list and the offense bailed out the bullpen as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 in 12 innings, to snap a five-game losing streak and avoid being swept.
After J.T. Chargois protected a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning, Caleb Fergsuon failed in his high-leverage audition with a 3-0 advantage. A leadoff single and walk proved costly when Andrew McCutchen tied the game two batters later with a three-run home run to center field.
With the Dodgers out of bench players and running short on relievers, Pedro Baez turned in two perfect innings. It paid off in the bottom of the 12th when Brian Dozier delivered a walk-off single.
In his first Major League start since May 2, Ryu spun six shutout innings, complete with six strikeouts. The Giants’ only baserunner through four innings came on Brando Belt’s blooper of a one-out double in the first inning that just caught the chalk.
Ryu’s string of 12 consecutive batters retired was snapped when he allowed back-to-back singles with one out in the fifth inning. He escaped the jam by following that up with consecutive strikeouts.
On top of turning in a scoreless effort, Ryu did so on a rather efficient 89 pitches.
While Ryu was keeping the Giants at bay, the Dodgers offense was continuing with their disappearing act. Manny Machado and Matt Kemp were stranded in the first inning after a base hit and walk, respectively.
Kiké Hernandez was then left on base after leading off the second with a double, and the same held true for Brian Dozier in the fifth inning. Dozier nearly scored on a Matt Kemp RBI single but the play at home plate was reviewed and overturned. In between, the Dodgers left one on in the third and two in the fourth inning.
It wasn’t until Yasiel Puig’s leadoff double in the sixth that the Dodgers finally managed to cash in. And to their credit, they did so by manufacturing the run. Yasmani Grandal’s drive to deep right field allowed Puig to tag, and Joc Pederson’s sacrifice fly brought Puig home.
Considering how futile their offensive production has been, you could say the proverbial floodgates opened in the seventh inning. Following Justin Turner’s leadoff walk, Machado pulled an RBI double down the left-field line, improving to 3-for-3 on the night.
Kemp then offset having an RBI taken away from him by driving in Machado with a base hit into center field.
