SAN FRANCISCO — Once again, the Giants were sunk by their bullpen. Clayton Kershaw (9-1, 1.52 ERA) and Johnny Cueto (9-1, 2.16 ERA) matched each other through eight innings, but the Dodgers (33-29) went ahead for good in the ninth inning to seal a 3-2 win against the Giants (36-26) on Friday night. Here’s how the festivities played out.
The big moment
After Cueto battled brilliantly for eight innings, it took Santiago Casilla one batter (four pitches) to spoil the festivities. Justin Turner cranked a 2-1 slider into the first-row of seats in left field to pull the Dodgers ahead, 3-2.
At the plate
The game notes on Kershaw are a cornucopia of jaw-dropping numbers. Such as: His 2.38 career ERA is the lowest of any pitcher in the last 96 years with 1,500-plus innings. He entered Friday’s start with a 1.23 ERA across 16 career appearances at AT&T Park, the lowest of any pitcher with 100-plus innings thrown in the 16-year-old venue. His ERA this year had been 0.89 since May 1.
That changed on an first-inning slider to Matt Duffy, a pitch he deposited deep into the left-field bleachers to draw the Giants within a run. Through four outs in the game, Cueto and Kershaw combined to allow three runs. The bleeding stopped quickly.
The Dodgers ace retired the next 11 Giants, before extinguishing a fifth-inning Giants rally that consisted of two singles dribbled at infielders. The offense broke through in the sixth inning, as Buster Posey split the left-center gap with a two-out double that scored Joe Panik from first. Before Posey’s hit, opponents were hitting .157 against Kershaw with two outs.
Brandon Belt gave Giants fans a last breath of life in the ninth inning, shooting a two-out double down the right-field line. Gregor Blanco pinch-hit, and walked on a 3-2 cutter that rose up-and-in. With the winning run on base, Brandon Crawford struck out on a full-count pitch.
On the mound
Both starters brought glistening numbers into Friday’s matchup, and Cueto’s was 29.1. That was his scoreless inning streak at AT&T Park, the longest home scoreless streak since Bud Blacks 32 straight scoreless frames in 1991. Cueto’s streak lasted all of three batters into his 13th start.
Utley and Seager reached base to start the game, and advanced on a wild pitch to the next hitter, Justin Turner. In the same plate appearance, Cueto leaned on his patented shoulder shimmy to catch Turner off guard. The Giants right-hander rocked his shoulders three times, and was called for a balk by first-base umpire Bill Welke.
A shaken-up Cueto subsequently struck out Turner, but yielded a run-scoring hit to Adrian Gonzalez to push L.A.’s lead out, 2-0. He settled down after the opening frame, perfectly navigating the next three innings on 32 innings. He ran into trouble with Utley again in the fifth inning, grazing his leg with a two-strike cutter, and advancing him to second on an errant pickoff throw. With small pockets of fans cheering at every Warriors basket, the sellout crowd roared in unison when Seager struck out swinging to end the inning.
Cueto rode through his last three innings easily. He retired all nine hitters, and finished his evening with 114 pitches to retire 23 of the last 24 hitters he faced.
In the ‘pen
Casilla unseated Cueto on the mound, and yielded the game-deciding home run to the first batter he faced. He also worked around a Joc Pederson double to finish the ninth inning.
On deck
Jeff Samardzija (7-4, 3.33 ERA) starts for the first time since his setback against the Cardinals last Saturday, when he allowed four home runs after allowing five total in his previous 11 starts. He squares off with Scott Kazmir (5-3, 4.46 ERA) at 4:15 p.m. Saturday on FOX and KNBR 680.
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