Freddie Freeman’s 15-pitch at-bat sparks Dodgers offense
SAN FRANCISCO — It was around pitch seven or eight when the Oracle Park crowd started to realize what was happening.
The score was tied. The Dodgers had the bases loaded with no outs. Freddie Freeman, who’d joked in recent days about his lack of RBIs this season, had worked a full count against San Francisco Giants left-hander Taylor Rogers. In the top of the sixth inning, Wednesday’s game was suddenly hanging in the balance.
That’s when the high-leverage at-bat became something more; when Freeman started to foul off one pitch, then another, then another, then another, then another and so on.
Nine straight times, in an at-bat that lasted the better part of six minutes, Freeman swung at a pitch in the strike zone. Nine straight times, he hit it somewhere outside the two white foul lines.
Dodgers take two out of three in San Francisco
⚾ Dodgers 10, Giants 5 — FINAL
It was a night of seconds in San Francisco for the Dodgers.
Max Muncy had his second two-homer game in three nights. Clayton Kershaw collected his second win of the season.
And for the second time in three games against the Giants, an offensive explosion carried the Dodgers to a victory.
Muncy, who hit two homers and had seven RBIs in Monday’s 9-1 win, had two homers and four RBIs on Wednesday night. After entering the series with three RBIs this season, Muncy now shares the National League lead with 14 RBIs.
Kershaw, meantime, collected his 199th career victory by settling in after giving up three runs (two earned) in the first two innings. He went on to complete six innings, striking out four.
Kershaw is third on the Dodgers career wins list, trailing Don Drysdale (209 victories) and Don Sutton (233).
The game took 3 hours 10 minutes — the first time a Dodgers game took longer than three hours this season.
Evan Phillips tosses scoreless inning as Dodgers close in
⚾ Dodgers 10, Giants 4 — End of the eighth inning
Reliever Evan Phillips bounced back from a rough inning Tuesday night by pitching a scoreless bottom of the eighth inning Wednesday, giving up a hit but striking out three.
During Tuesday’s 5-0 loss, Phillips gave up two home runs and three runs total — the first runs he had given up this season.
Trayce Thompson adds to the Dodgers barrage
⚾ Dodgers 10, Giants 4 — End of the seventh inning
Trayce Thompson added to the Dodgers’ offensive explosion in the seventh inning, banging a two-run home run to left field off former Dodgers all-star Ross Stripling to give Los Angeles a seven-run cushion.
The Giants scored a run off reliever Yency Almonte on an RBI single by Wilmer Flores, his second RBI of the game.
Max Muncy strikes again, this time with a three-run bomb
⚾ Dodgers 8, Giants 3 — End of the sixth inning
The Max Muncy showcase continues.
Muncy had his second two-homer game in three nights, blasting a three-run homer to right off Giants reliever John Brebbia to give the Dodgers an 8-3 lead.
For Muncy, that is now 11 career home runs in San Francisco and 25 against the Giants overall.
Clayton Kershaw, for his part, completed six innings on 100 pitches. After giving up three runs (two earned) in the first two innings and throwing 44 pitches, Kershaw tossed four scoreless frames and gave up no hits while throwing 56 pitches.
Dodgers pull ahead thanks to Freddie Freeman’s epic at-bat
⚾ Dodgers 5, Giants 3 — Top of the sixth inning
Freddie Freeman was determined to join the Dodgers’ walk parade.
Freeman grinded out a 15-pitch at-bat that included 11 foul balls and ended with a full-count walk that scored Trayce Thompson from third base to give the Dodgers their first lead of the game.
Taylor Rogers faced four batters in the inning, walking them all — including the struggling Chris Taylor on a pitch-clock violation. After Mookie Betts followed Thompson and Taylor with a walk of his own to load the bases, Freeman stepped in for what turned into a marathon at-bat. On the 15th pitch, Rogers gave in to force in the go-ahead run.
After Rogers was lifted, Will Smith greeted reliever John Brebbia with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Taylor and extend the lead.
Max Muncy continues to torment the Giants, homers yet again
⚾ Giants 3, Dodgers 3 — End of the fifth inning
Max Muncy has entered the chat.
Muncy, who had two homers and seven RBI in Monday’s 9-1 win over the Giants, hit a solo shot to center field with one out in the fifth inning off former Dodger Scott Alexander to tie the score.
It was Muncy’s 10th career home run in San Francisco and 24th overall against San Francisco.
After mustering only three hits through the first three innings, the Dodgers have hammered seven hits in the last two innings to get back into the game.
Clayton Kershaw completed five innings, giving up a two-out walk but no runs. He’s at 90 pitches and has given up five hits and two earned runs to go with three strikeouts.
Dodgers end offensive drought, chase starter Alex Cobb
⚾ Giants 3, Dodgers 2 — End of the fourth inning
The Dodgers finally scored for the first time since Monday night thanks to a rally sparked by an RBI single by center fielder James Outman.
Outman’s hit came on the heels of a triple by J.D. Martinez, his second of the trip (he had one triple all of last season). It was also Outman’s 10th RBI of the season, the first National League rookie to reach double figures in the category.
It was the first time the Dodgers had scored since the seventh inning of Monday’s 9-1 win over the Giants.
The Dodgers continued to threaten with two outs on a single by David Peralta and an infield hit that ricocheted off pitcher Alex Cobb by Miguel Rojas. (Rojas was lifted from the game due to what the team called a left hamstring cramp and replaced by Chris Taylor.)
Mookie Betts then followed with a ringing double into the left field corner that scored Peralta to pull the Dodgers to within a run and chase Cobb after 77 pitches.
Former Dodger Scott Alexander entered and was greeted by a deep fly ball to center by Freddie Freeman that Bryce Johnson caught while crashing against the wall.
Clayton Kershaw, meanwhile, had his second straight 1-2-3 inning, this one on eight pitches, and has retired seven in a row. He is through four innings on 68 pitches, including 24 the last two frames.
Clayton Kershaw settles down, not much doing for Dodgers on offense
⚾ Giants 3, Dodgers 0 — End of the third inning
Clayton Kershaw had his first 1-2-3 inning in the third, and also collected his first two strikeouts of the game, punching out J.D. Davis and David Villar. Kershaw is at 60 pitches through three innings.
The Dodgers remain quiet on offense, however. Will Smith has two of the Dodgers’ three hits so far, but the team has not scored since putting up five runs in the seventh inning of Monday’s game, a span of 14 innings.
Giants tack on another run, extend their lead
⚾ Giants 3, Dodgers 0 — End of the second inning
More two-out offense for the Giants in the second inning off Clayton Kershaw.
Wilmer Flores’ sharp single to right field scored Joey Bart, who had reached on a bunt single with one out. After an error by Miguel Vargas at second base allowed Heliot Ramos to reach base, Kershaw induced a flyout to right by Thairo Estrada before Flores’ hit.
Kershaw has thrown 44 pitches through two innings while giving up five hits and two earned runs.
During the inning, the SportsNet LA broadcast also pointed out Kershaw’s recent struggles with the Giants.
After going 22-9 with a 1.60 ERA against San Francisco from 2008 to ‘17, Kershaw went 2-6 with a 3.50 ERA from 2018 to ’22.
First-inning troubles continue for Dodgers
⚾ Giants 2, Dodgers 0 — End of the first inning
The Giants scored two runs in the first inning for the second night in a row, touching up left-hander Clayton Kershaw for three hits while forcing him to throw 23 pitches.
Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores both hit bloop singles to right before J.D. Davis hit a one-out sacrifice fly to right to score Estrada. Darin Ruf, in his first game back with the Giants, followed with a double that scored Michael Conforto, who had reached on a fielder’s choice.
As for the Dodgers in the top of the inning, they put a couple of runners on after Mookie Betts grounded out to third — on a four-pitch walk by Freddie Freeman and a single to left by Will Smith — but Giants right-hander Alex Cobb worked around it, inducing a fielder’s choice groundout by Max Muncy and then striking out J.D. Martinez.
Dodgers TV schedule for the 2023 regular season
Here’s a look at the Dodgers TV schedule for the 2023 regular season. All times and broadcast/streaming options are subject to change.
Chris Taylor’s strikeout problems magnified in Dodgers’ 5-0 loss to Giants
SAN FRANCISCO — It might be a new season. But two weeks into the campaign, Chris Taylor is battling the same old issue.
In all three of his at-bats Tuesday night, the Dodgers veteran struck out with runners on base. In his final trip to the plate, he went down swinging with no outs and the bases loaded.
Taylor wasn’t the only culprit in the team’s 5-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants, a shutout defeat in which the Dodgers collected just three singles and, despite drawing five walks and two hit-by-pitches, went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
But in the aftermath of a flat rivalry game defeat, it was Taylor’s continued punchout problems that loomed largest amid an already slow start to the season.