The Giant won a heart stopping game on national TV that was as intense as anything you will see outside a postseason game.
It was really a bullpen game for both teams with Sam Long LHP going for the Giants against Clayton Kershaw LHP who was coming off the IL. Long, who has been terrific in his limited chances all season, pitched 3 shutout innings while the Giants touched Kershaw for 2 runs in his 4 IP.
The Giants bullpen had to navigate two torture innings, the 7'th and 8'th. Zack Littell RHP started the 7'th with a 2-0 lead and promptly loaded the bases with no outs. Enter Jarlin Garcia LHP who was shaky in his first two June appearances after compiling a 0.00 ERA in April and May. Garcia struck out Freddie Freeman 1B then got Trea Turner SS to GIDP Thairo Estrada 2B to Darin Ruf 1B to end the inning.
Garcia then came back out to start the 8'th inning. After getting Max Muncy DH to ground out, Will Smith singled. Garcia should have gotten a second GIDP to make it a low-stress inning, but this time Thairo Estrada booted the grounder. Cody Bellinger CF followed with a ground-rule double to score a run and put runners at 2'nd and 3'rd with 1 out. Enter Camilo Doval RHP who proceeded to walk Chris Taylor LF to load the bases(not the worst outome of that PA, by far). Doval proceeded to strike out Gavin Lux 2B and Mookie Betts RF to get out of it with the Giants lead intact.
The Dodgers might have a legitimate beef about what happened in the Giants half of the 8'th inning. With the bases loaded on no outs, Craig Kimbrel RHP broke down Crawford's swing at an inside pitch in the dirt. The ball took crazy bounce in 3 planes which allowed Joc Pederson LF to stroll home from third with an insurance run the Giants would turn out to need. There is apparently some disagreement over what Dave Roberts came out and questioned. Per Sami Higgins over at MCC, the Giants crew on KNBR thought Roberts was claiming the ball hit Crawford's bat for a foul ball. The Fox TV announcers actually thought the ball hit Crawford in either the leg or foot which would have made it a dead ball due to the swing and miss. The umps said it was not reviewable and Roberts went back to the dugout without much of an argument. I am not convinced the ball hit Crawford. It might have grazed his pant leg, but if it was reviewed I think there is a 50% chance it would have been ruled a dead ball and Pederson sent back to 3B. Since Crawford and the next two batters all struck out, Freeman's HR in the 9'th would have tied it.
In addition to his adventures in the field, both good and bad, Thairo Estrada got the Giants their first run with a solo HR to LF off Clayton Kershaw. As you recall, Estrada had a rough game at 2B on Wednesday. So, is Estrada a good fielder or no? Per Fangraphs UZR, he is essentially neutral at 2B, better than neural at SS(SSS) and a strongly negative OF.
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Carlos Rodon LHP goes for the swweeeep tomorrow afternoon facing Giants nemesis Julio Urias LHP.
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