On a wet day at AT&T Park, the Giants let a potential sweep slip through their grasp.
The Giants led all afternoon, but Santiago Casilla couldn't hold on in the ninth and back-to-back doubles off George Kontos in the top of the 10th put a lead in Dodgers' closer Kenley Jansen's hands. He easily closed out the messy game, clinching a 3-2 win for the Dodgers.
This early scoring wasn't exactly what Bruce Bochy had in mind when he moved the pitcher up a spot in the lineup, but he’ll certainly take it. Clayton Kershaw gave up homers to the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters for the first time in his career as the Giants jumped ahead. Madison Bumgarner hit the first blast, which was the 12th homer of his career. The second homer, a go-ahead shot by Ehire Adrianza, may have been more surprising.
Bumgarner ignited the party by blasting a 93 mph fastball into the seats in left. The homer was the second off Kershaw in two years for Bumgarner, making him the only player with multiple homers off the game’s best pitcher since the start of 2015. Bumgarner remains the only pitcher to have homered off Kershaw, and he is one of just 15 players with multiple regular season homers against him.
Kershaw was stunned by the homer, yelling an expletive on the mound, but he settled in and retired 10 of 11. That’s when Adrianza struck. The reserve infielder snuck a solo shot just inside the left field pole, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.
Kershaw kept it a one-run game through the eighth, and his teammates responded by loading the bases with one out against Casilla in the ninth. Adrian Gonzales hit a grounder to second but Kelby Tomlinson dropped it and could only get an out at first, allowing the tying run to score. Buster Posey led off the bottom of the inning with a single. After two strikeouts, Chris Hatcher intentionally walked Brandon Belt and Joe Panik was sent up as a pinch-hitter. He struck out looking.
Starting pitching report: Bumgarner lasted just six innings because of a high pitch count. He allowed six hits and one earned run, striking out eight.
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Bullpen report: The emergence of Hunter Strickland has allowed Bochy to change up his Sergio Romo pattern a bit, so Romo came on in the seventh with three right-handers due up. The Dodgers pinch-hit Chase Utley but it didn’t matter; Romo had a clean inning. Strickland came on with a runner on second in the eighth and got two strikeouts and a fly to right.
At the plate: Adrianza’s two career homers: Off of Andy Pettitte at Yankee Stadium; off of Kershaw. The young man has a sense of timing.
In the field: Former Giant Charlie Culberson (the man traded for Marco Scutaro) played left field for the first time in three years and ended the eighth with a spectacular diving catch.
Up next: Johnny Cueto’s first home start as a Giant. Cueto will face Scott Kazmir, one of the Dodgers’ offseason acquisitions.
