The Los Angeles Dodgers withstood a vintage performance from Madison Bumgarner, received a gem from Hyun-Jin Ryu and rallied late but suffered a 3-2 walk-off loss to the San Francisco Giants and dropped three-game series at Oracle Park.
The Giants broke from a season-long trend by scoring in the first inning for only the second time this season. Their efforts were aided by Alex Verdugo having a deep drive to center field go off the heel of his glove for a double that put two runners in scoring position with nobody out.
While Brandon Belt’s sacrifice fly to triples alley gave the Giants a 1-0 lead, Ryu limited the damage. He faced the minimum from the second through eighth innings, buoyed by the Dodgers turning a pair of double plays behind him over that stretch.
Ryu got through eight innings for just the third time in his career, with both prior instances coming during his rookie season in 2013. He again did not issue any walks and finished with six strikeouts.
As Ryu was keeping the Dodgers in the game, their offense was in search of any sort of success against Bumgarner. He was perfect through three innings, and the Dodgers’ first baserunner appropriately came on Kiké Hernandez’s leadoff single in the fourth.
Justin Turner’s base hit put runners at the corners with one out but Cody Bellinger hit back to the box, and after Russell Martin worked a walk, the Dodgers left the bases loaded.
As Bumgarner’s pitch count approached triple digits, Hernandez and Bellinger combined for a dramatic moment in the sixth inning. Hernandez fouled off five consecutive pitches before leading off with a double.
With the Dodgers one strike away from squandering the opportunity, Hernandez broke for third on what wound up being a shot up the first-base line. Belt made a diving stop to rob Bellinger of an extra-base hit but the infield single gave the Dodgers’ slugger his MLB-leading 38th RBI.
L.A. had two reach with nobody out in the seventh but Ryu’s failure to lay down a sacrifice bunt undid some of the momentum. Chris Taylor stole third base and Verdugo later took second on a pitch in the dirt, only for Reyes Moronta to strike out Hernandez and Corey Seager.
Will Smith’s error and Verudgo’s single gave the Dodgers two on with one out in the ninth, but again stranded the runners.
The missed opportunities ultimately cost them as the Giants connected on back-to-back singles off Julio Urias in the bottom of the ninth. He struck out Belt but then gave way to Pedro Baez, who was unable to replicate his last high-wire act and gave up a walk-off RBI single to Bust Posey.
Wednesday marked the first time in the series in which the team that scored first also won the game.
