Rich Hill was removed after just one inning due to left forearm discomfort, but the Los Angeles Dodgers had already taken a lead and added to it to cruise to a 9-2 win over the San Francisco Giants in an unexpected bullpen game.
Hill bookended a perfect first inning with strikeouts on just 15 pitches (11 strikes), but there were signs of potential trouble. He walked off and around the mound on multiple occasions, and in one instance was checked on by David Freese and Justin Turner.
Hill did not look 100% healthy when warming up for the second inning, which prompted a Dodgers trainer to remove him from the game. Hill exited with a 3-0 lead thanks to Chris Taylor’s home run. Taylor doubled in the third and added a second homer off Drew Pomeranz.
That raised Taylor’s season total to seven, with three coming off the Giants’ southpaw. The multi-home run game marked a first for Taylor. His solo shot traveled 426 feet into the left-field pavilion, giving Taylor his longest home run of the season.
Kyle Garlick also enjoyed a career first at Pomeranz’s expense as he led off the second inning with a home run. Garlick joined Walker Buehler, Will Smith and Matt Beaty as Dodgers who have hit their first home run this season.
The Dodgers also scored in the third inning behind Alex Verdugo’s sacrifice fly and Russell Martin’s RBI single. Pomeranz, who threw five scoreless innings when he faced the Dodgers at Oracle Park earlier this month, allowed at least one run in every frame until the fourth on Wednesday.
Cody Bellinger broke the game open in the seventh inning with a two-run home run, giving him 24 on the season.
The Dodgers bullpen responded well to being thrown into a difficult situation. Dylan Floro was first to appear, and he turned in two clean innings. Yimi Garcia lost the combined perfect game when he allowed a two-out home run to Tyler Austin in the fourth inning.
Mike Yastrzemski later greeted Caleb Ferguson with a home run to lead off the sixth. That was all Ferguson allowed, and the Dodgers finished the game with one inning from Pedro Baez and two from Joe Kelly.
