In what was perhaps Madison Bumgarner’s final start against them as a member of the San Francisco Giants, the Los Angeles Dodgers stuck it to him early and then hung on for dear life, earning a 9-8 victory to take three out of four from their rivals at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard against Bumgarner in the bottom of the first inning and of course, it was Max Muncy that drove in the first run. It wasn’t a towering home run like the one he hit a couple of weeks ago in San Francisco that angered Bumgarner, but instead an RBI single to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.
Then in the fourth inning, the Dodgers were able to break it open against the left-hander. Chris Taylor, who is red hot at the moment, got the inning started with a double and he then scored on a home run off the bat of Kyle Garlick.
The home run was Garlick’s second of his career and came one night after slugging his first. “It’s not that easy,” he said of the recent surge in power. “I was just trying to put together some good at-bats.”
After Alex Verdugo followed with a single, Austin Barnes then took Bumgarner deep to give him five home runs on the season. It was Barnes’ first homer since May 3.
Later in the inning, the Dodgers loaded the bases and Taylor stepped to the plate for a second time and ripped an RBI single into left field to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 6-0 and knock Bumgarner out of the game in the process.
Joc Pederson did not start but still found a way to make an impact off the bench, hitting a pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the seventh. He now has 20 on the season, all against right-handed pitchers, which is the most in baseball.
The Dodgers went into the ninth inning with a 9-4 lead, but the Giants did not make things easy for them. Josh Sborz allowed two hits and a walk, forcing Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to go to closer Kenley Jansen.
Jansen did not fare much better, allowing back-to-back hits when he entered to cut the lead all the way down to 9-8. He locked in from there though and got some nice defensive plays from Cody Bellinger and Alex Verdugo to earn his 22nd save of the season.
