Adrian Gonzalez hit a walk-off double in the ninth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants.
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The Orioles dropped the first game of their series with the Red Sox 5-2 in a game that saw Mookie Betts continue to rake at Camden Yards.
It’s impossible to know what would have happened had Bochy kept Bumgarner in, of course, and Bochy insisted afterwards that Bumgarner would have been pulled regardless of what happened at the end of the seventh.
As expected, the series opener featuring two of the best pitchers in baseball was nothing short of a nail biter.
“It was awesome”, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw said. That included a workmanlike effort in his last start on Friday against St. Louis, in which he allowed two runs in five innings of an 8-2 San Francisco victory.
Cueto (17-5) threw 5 and 1/3 shutout innings before he left the game with a strained groin with one out in the sixth. Chances are that the Dodgers still score that run, but at least they would have had a chance to get out of the jam. What was more shocking for Kershaw was the fact he walked a batter. They exchanged more pleasantries and Puig attempted to meet up with Bumgarner but was restrained by catcher Buster Posey and the home plate umpire.
The Giants have lost five times in September despite having a lead in the eighth inning.
“I just ran, and he was looking in my direction and he asked why I was looking at him, and then I asked him why he was looking at me”.
“Obviously, you want to win them all”, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. The magic number is now at 7.
“It was all in good fun”, Culberson said after the Dodgers’ 2-0 loss to the Giants on Tuesday.
As Cueto hobbled off the field, Giants manager Bruce Bochy stepped into his personal torture chamber and waved to the bullpen.
Evan Gattis hit his 28th home run of the season for the Astros, a solo shot in the second inning.
Rich Hill followed a similar template.
The Giants have found Maeda tough to solve; he has won both starts against San Francisco this year. He allowed only four hits in six innings, but one of those was a solo shot by Justin Turner that ended up being the only run of the game. Matt Moore, who almost no-hit the Dodgers last time he faced them, could again be dominant or knocked around. Only James Shields and Jerad Eickhoff have more (seven each) this season.
Hill has been great in his Dodger tenure. Andrew Toles proved he belongs on the 25-man roster because of his hitting and speed.
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The Los Angeles bullpen was strong with lights out performances for Grant Dayton, Pedro Baez, and Joe Blanton who pitched three flawless innings of relief. Kike Hernandez was disappointing in his start Monday, but his versatility may land him a spot.
