The San Francisco Giants fell to the New York Mets just over two hours before the Los Angeles Dodgers took the field against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and they quickly went to work on putting the game away in an eventual 9-0 shutout to complete a series sweep.
“Obviously you’re trying to catch those guys, and when you win, they win, but there’s really not a whole lot we can do about it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the Giants before first pitch.
“I think the only thing we can do is focus on ourselves and play good baseball. Everyone knows that they lost today. We’ve got to go out there and win a baseball game, and the Pirates are trying to prevent that, so we’ve got to play a good baseball game.”
The victory pulled the Dodgers to within three games of the first-place San Francisco Giants, extended their winning streak to six games and and marked a 16th time in row they have defeated the Pirates.
Max Muncy slugged a two-run home run and Corey Seager added an RBI single before Pirates starter JT Brubaker could record an out — on the fifth batter he faced.
AJ Pollock, who finished the night 3-for-5 from the leadoff spot, extended the Dodgers’ lead to 4-0 with a solo home run in the second inning.
Brubaker then self-inflicted damage by walking Mitch White with two outs in the fourth inning. After Pollock followed with a single, Muncy hammered his second home run of the night. It marked a second multi-homer game in the past four days.
Dodgers pitching shines again
After Justin Bruihl recorded five outs as the opener, White efficiently went 7.1 innings. He only allowed two hits in an effort that will pay dividends Thursday when the Dodgers deploy another bullpen game in the series opener against the Mets.
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