The rivalry between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers is big – possibly the biggest in baseball depending on which coast you live on.
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As expected, the series opener featuring two of the best pitchers in baseball was nothing short of a nail biter. The Dodgers have a sizable lead, but it’s certainly not over yet, especially with five games remaining against the Giants.
Credit Dodgers infielder Charlie Culberson as the go-between for the two camps. The Giants needed two more innings out of him, but instead he lost his composure and let the team down.
The first of those events, and easily the most crucial, was the pulling of Bumgarner for pinch hitter Conor Gillaspie in the 8th inning, something that has yet to be explained by anyone in a Giants uniform. For not having his dominant stuff, Kershaw performed well overall.
The offense was silent for eight innings, noticeably fooled by whatever Bumgarner hurled up to the plate. It’s unclear whether Bochy thought his night was done, or if the argument with Puig caused him to make the decision early.
“I just ran, and he was looking in my direction”, Puig said through a translator, “and he asked why I was looking at him, and then I asked him why he was looking at me”. Bumgarner was coincidentally pulled after that inning.
So… before last night, I kept thinking that the Giants would find a way into the playoffs because they’re such a battle-tested team and they have Bochy, Buster Posey and Bumgarner. However, the San Francisco manager remains confident the Giants can reverse their fortunes and play their way into the postseason. Adrian Gonzalez delivered the game-winning hit against Hunter Strickland, a fly ball that caromed off the glove of right fielder Hunter Pence as he leaped on the warning track.
The victory in the opener of a three-game series allowed the Padres to move back into a tie with Arizona for fourth in the National League West.
Hill is 3-1 with a 1.48 ERA since the Dodgers acquired him from the Oakland Athletics in a trade-deadline deal. Jhonny Cueto goes for the Giants and newly acquired Rich Hill goes for the Dodgers.
Maybe Madison Bumgarner had just reached the end of the rope Monday night.
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Dodgers: RHP Kenta Maeda (15-9, 3.24 ERA) has given up only four earned runs and struck out 17 over his last three games covering 17 1/3 innings. The Dodgers plan to use Wood out of the bullpen, coming in to start innings.
