After the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a historic sweep against the San Diego Padres filled with three consecutive shutouts, they suffered their first loss of the season to the San Francisco Giants in Thursday’s series opener at AT&T Park.
The second game of the set featured Ross Stripling making his Major League debut against veteran right-hander Matt Cain.
Once the Dodgers went down quietly in the top of the first inning, it was Stripling’s turn to take the mound. His first out came on a Denard Span deep fly ball to center field. Stripling then retired Joe Panik on a soft comebacker, and got some help from Scott Van Slyke who covered plenty of ground to track down a fly ball in left-center field for the third out.
Yasiel Puig collected the first hit of the game with a one-out single in the second inning. He then stole second base with two outs, but was stranded as Van Slyke flied out to end the inning. Stripling continued to pitch with plenty of poise as he set the Giants down in order in the bottom of the second.
Chase Utley lined a two-out pitch off Belt’s glove, then beat Cain to the bag as the Giants attempted to complete the 3-4-1 putout. Nothing came of it however, as Corey Seager grounded out.
Stripling picked up his first Major League strikeout in the bottom of the third by getting Trevor Brown to fan on a curveball. The young righty then ended the inning by hitting the outside corner against Cain for called strike three.
CONTINUE READING: Ross Stripling removed in eighth inning with no-hitter
The fourth was another quiet inning for the Dodgers as Cain retired Justin Turner, Adrian Gonzalez and Puig in order. Stripling lost his perfect game in the bottom of the fourth by issuing a pair of one-out walks.
However, the young righty quickly settled back in, retiring Belt and Duffy to get out of the inning unscathed. Joc Pederson fought back after falling behind in the count 0-2 and laced a leadoff double down the right field line in the fifth.
He scored two batters later on an A.J. Ellis RBI single to center, giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Utley extended the inning with a two-out single, and it paid off as Seager extended the lead with an RBI single.
The Giants couldn’t muster any offense in the home half of the fifth, with Brandon Crawford, Angel Pagan and Brown going down in order. Cain kept the Dodgers off the bases in the sixth, which was his final inning of work.
Pinch-hitter Gregor Blanco flied out, Span grounded out and Panik flied out to give Stripling six no-hit innings on 77 pitches. He walked Pence to start the bottom of the seventh and fell behind 3-0 to Belt.
Stripling battled back to force a full count, then got Belt to ground into a 5-4-3 double play, with the Dodgers in a shift and Turner playing near second base. The Dodgers loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth behind singles from Turner and Gonzalez, and a Puig walk.
But, all three runners were stranded as Josh Osich got Pederson to ground into a 3-1 putout. Stripling issued a one-out walk to Pagan in the bottom of the eighth on his 100th pitch. That wound up being it for Stripling, who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2014, as he was replaced by Chris Hatcher.
The pitching change was a welcomed sight for Brown, who hit a game-tying two-run home run. Hatcher then got into a shouting match with home plate umpire Jeff Kellogg, which prompted Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to rush out of the dugout.
Roberts and Kellogg exchanged words and the conversation ended with Roberts earning his first ejection as manager. Hatcher walked Ehire Adrianza before getting out of the inning with the game tied at 2-2.
Pedro Baez recorded two strikeouts en route to throwing a scoreless ninth inning. Joe Blanton left entered in the bottom of the 10th and had his second pitch hit for a walk-off home run by Crawford.