The Giants snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in each of the final three innings to outlast the Dodgers in an epic 3-1/2 hour nail-biter on national TV. Thairo Estrada smacked a homer against Clayton Kershaw to open the scoring in the 2nd and an RBI single from Luis González made it 2-0. The Giants bullpen kept it that way. Sam Long opened and got nine outs, Tyler Rogers handled the 4th and 5th, and Dominic Leone delivered a scoreless 6th. The Dodgers loaded the bases against Zack Littell in the 7th but failed to score. Jarlín García struck out Freddie Freeman on a 3-2 pitch and then got Trea Turner to ground into a double play. In the 8th an error by Estrada on a double-play ball gave Cody Bellinger a chance and he smoked a double to left-center. Fortunately only one run scored as it bounced over the wall for an automatic two bases. Camilo Doval then came in and struck out Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts to end the threat. The Giants got a gift wild pitch by Craig Kimbrel to score Joc Pederson (who opened the inning with a pinch-single) to make it 3-1 for the 9th. Good thing. Freeman homered off José Álvarez to make it 3-2, and Trea Turner followed with a hit, but Max Muncy struck out, and Will Smith grounded into a fielder's choice. Hanser Alberto got a fluky infield pinch-hit but Álvarez kept his cool and got Bellinger on a grounder to Estrada to earn the save.
It was a gritty performance from the pitching staff. They threw 166 pitches and gave up 13 hits! But they got big outs in big moments late in the game and stymied the LA lineup. The Giants take the first two in the three-game set to even the season series at 2-2 and stay within striking distance at 4-1/2 back.
It's a marquee match-up of super southpaws tomorrow. Carlos Rodón and Julio Urías face off at 1:05 Pacific.
Go Giants! Beat LA!
--M.C.
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