After an emotional night in which they elected to boycott playing, the Los Angeles Dodgers returned to the field Thursday afternoon for a 7-0 win over the San Francisco Giants in the first game of a doubleheader. It snapped the Giants’ seven-game winning streak.
Per rules implemented by MLB this season in the interest of health and safety, the game — and the ensuing meeting — was only seven innings. Clayton Kershaw handled six of them, adding to his career success in San Francisco.
The outing nonetheless was reminiscent of the Giants managing to get plenty of hits off the left-hander when he faced them at Dodger Stadium in his second start of the season. Though, Kershaw this time kept the ball in the ballpark and was aided by stellar defense.
After Mike Yastrzemski hit a leadoff single in the bottom of the first inning, Cody Bellinger made a running catch at the warning track in center field to rob Wilmer Flores of extra bases and likely a game-tying RBI.
AJ Pollock then made a diving catch to his left to end the inning. Kershaw continued to pitch around traffic as he stranded a leadoff double in the second and two-out ground-rule double in the third.
But the Giants then didn’t have another baserunner until Evan Longoria’s two-out single in the sixth, and he wound up being their last. Kershaw struck out four and threw just 86 pitches over six innings to improve to 4-1.
Offensively, the Dodgers benefited from soft contact that was well placed, much like the Giants often have in their head-to-head matchups in Northern California.
In the first inning, Mookie Betts’ leadoff walk and Corey Seager’s base hit set the table for the heart of the lineup. After Justin Turner advanced both runners, Cody Bellinger’s RBI groundout gave the Dodgers an early lead.
They puled away with four runs in the fourth inning, with half of those coming on RBI infield singles by Joc Pederson and Seager. Sandwiched in between them was Austin Barnes’ two-run double into left field.
Pollock provided the last bit of insurance with a two-run homer in the top of the seventh.
Mookie had change of heart
Betts was open with teammates that regardless of their decision Wednesday night, he did not intend to play. Betts also conveyed to them he would support them if they elected to move forward with the game.
Then on Thursday, the 2018 American League MVP was not in the initial lineup released by the Dodgers. An updated one soon followed, with Betts starting in right field and batting leadoff.
“In talking to Mookie last night, he didn’t plan on playing today,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained prior to the first game. “Regardless of the doubleheader, he wasn’t going to play. Felt that he wanted to continue to stand firm on his position, which I absolutely respect and support.
“But in talking to him about an hour ago, talking to the Players Alliance and Black players around the league, they came to a consensus they can use their platform more by playing. Also, the fact that their white teammates stood beside them in not playing.
“Acknowledging that and continuing to stay unified and play, stay in lockstep with their teammates, was very important.”
Betts singled in the sixth inning, giving him 1,000 carer hits.
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