In the most important game of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers put up perhaps their best overall performance, defeating the San Francisco Giants, 15-0, to force a tie-breaking game for the National League West against the Colorado Rockies on Monday afternoon.
The offense did not waste time getting the scoring started as Justin Turner doubled and David Freese singled to drive in a run apiece before any outs were recorded in the game.
Los Angeles then broke the game wide open by scoring seven runs in the third inning to make it 9-0. Manny Machado, Kiké Hernandez and Matt Kemp all had run-scoring hits in the inning, but the big swing of the inning was by Brian Dozier on a two-run home run.
Dozier’s struggles in recent weeks have been well-documented as that was his first long ball since Aug. 28. Dozier now has five total in 47 games with the Dodgers.
The game was already out of reach by the end of the third inning, but Max Muncy made sure of it when he hit a two-run shot in the fifth inning that landed in McCovey Cove. The home run was Muncy’s 34th of the season as he has been one of the biggest pleasant surprises in the entire league in 2018.
Another player who has struggled at the plate for the Dodgers this season is Austin Barnes, who had a breakout campaign in 2017. Barnes has finished the 2018 season strong though, hitting another home run in the top of the ninth inning. Three of Barnes’ four home runs came in the month of September.
On the mound, Rich Hill turned in a very strong outing to keep the Dodgers’ hopes of winning the NL West alive. He allowed just two hits in seven shutout innings, striking out seven.
