Can’t stop, won’t stop: Dodgers sweep Giants and show no sign of slowing down
SAN FRANCISCO — The Dodgers have seemed almost offended by the thought.
Now that they’ve clinched the division, almost certainly locked up baseball’s best record, and done it all with a couple weeks still remaining in the regular season, have they worried at all about complacency setting in between now and the playoffs?
No, they’ve emphatically claimed. Not in the slightest.
“That question doesn’t even register with me,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said last week, in the midst of his team’s division-clinching clubhouse celebration.
“I mean, if you don’t want to win the game, you shouldn’t be playing,” pitcher Andrew Heaney echoed Sunday.
Final: Dodgers complete series sweep with 4-3 extra-inning win
SAN FRANCISCO — For the first time since the two franchises relocated to California, the Dodgers have beaten the Giants 15 times in a season.
The last victory was one of the most dramatic, a 4-3 extra-inning win in which the Dodgers squandered an eighth-inning lead, scored twice in the top of the 10th, then needed two pitchers to hold on in a bottom half of the frame in which the Giants left the bases loaded.
The Dodgers are now 101-44.
Final: Dodgers 4, Giants 3
Dodgers take the lead in extra innings
After Craig Kimbrel pitched a clean bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings, it didn’t take the Dodgers long to go back in front in the 10th.
After Austin Barnes bunted automatic runner Cody Bellinger to third to lead off the inning, Mookie Betts broke the tie by lining an RBI double to left.
The Dodgers churned out another run from there, following up an intentional walk to Freddie Freeman with two more free passes to force in Betts.
Mid 10th: Dodgers lead 4-2
Game tied again after Giants snap Alex Vesia’s scoreless streak
For the first time since July 21, Alex Vesia gave up a run.
After a pair of walks to lead off the eighth, the left-hander’s 21-game scoreless streak was snapped when JD Davis hit a ground-rule double into the right-center field gap.
Had the ball not hopped the wall, another run likely would have scored.
Instead, Vesia limited the damage there by striking out LaMonte Wade Jr.
End 8th: Tied 2-2
Dodgers back in front Freddie Freeman’s RBI single
Trea Turner redeemed himself, bouncing back from his run-scoring error in the fifth with a leadoff double in the sixth.
Freddie Freeman then turned it into a run, rolling an RBI single past the second baseman to put the Dodgers back in front.
Mid 6th: Dodgers lead 2-1
Giants tie it up after Dodgers turn to bullpen in the fifth
Andrew Heaney had only thrown 65 pitches, but his day came to an early end after four scoreless innings.
The left-hander gave up only two hits and a walk — all coming in that fourth-inning jam — while striking out eight. He lowered his ERA to 2.66.
An abbreviated outing such as today’s could be something the Dodgers ask Heaney to do in the playoffs. As it stands, the left-hander seems unlikely to crack the starting rotation, lining him up to likely pitch in a relief capacity instead.
After Heaney exited, the Giants tied it up with an unearned run against reliever Caleb Ferguson in the fifth.
Lewis Brinson led off the frame with a double. He advanced to third on a fly ball. Then he scored when Trea Turner airmailed a throw to first with two outs in the inning.
End 5th: Tied 1-1
Game resumes as Andrew Heaney escapes jam to keep Dodgers in front
Pre-rain-delay Andrew Heaney retired all nine batters he faced.
Post-rain-delay Andrew Heaney got into trouble in the fourth, putting himself in a bases-loaded jam following the 20-minute delay on a single, ground-rule double (which probably would have scored a run if it didn’t bounce over the wall) and walk.
But then Heaney escaped, dialing up back-to-back strikeouts of Evan Longoria and Joey Bart to retire the side.
End 4th: Dodgers lead 1-0
Dodgers open scoring on Justin Turner double, then game is halted by rain
The Dodgers got on the board just in the nick of time.
After Freddie Freeman led off the fourth inning with a walk, Justin Turner drove him home all the way from first with a double into the left field corner.
Moments later, a torrential downpour of rain brought the game to a halt.
It’s unclear how long this delay might last. The grounds crew hasn’t put a tarp on the field yet, thus far only applying new layers of dirt to the infield.
Top 4th: Dodgers lead 1-0
Game starts on time, though rain quickly returns
For a few minutes at the start of the game, there were clear skies and calm weather.
But during the second inning, the rain returned, sending spectators back to the concourses and forcing both teams to play in wet conditions.
For now, it appears the game will continue.
Mid 2nd: No score
Dodgers, Giants hoping to start on time despite rainy forecast
SAN FRANCISCO — Though rain has been in the forecast all day, the Dodgers and Giants are still hopeful of starting their game on Sunday night on time, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
That means Andrew Heaney (3-2, 2.84 ERA) should still make his start as scheduled, as the Dodgers go for a three-game series sweep of the Giants.
San Francisco will counter in the finale with Alex Cobb (6-6, 3.48), who was briefly teammates with Heaney on the Angels last year.
Here is the Dodgers full lineup:
Short hops
Roberts said pitcher Tyler Anderson and his wife have welcomed a third child, Tucker, and that the left-hander was on his way to Los Angeles on Sunday to make his next start as scheduled on Tuesday.