For the ninth time this season, the Giants took a lead into the ninth inning and lost.
The San Francisco Giants blew their 30th save of the season on Monday night, falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on a walk off RBI double by Adrian Gonzalez.
Hunter Strickland was Bruce Bochy’s choice as a closer, and blew the save by giving up an RBI single to Justin Turner to tie the game, following Gonzalez’ game winning RBI.
For eight innings, this was a classic grind it out, pitchers duel between the two heated rivals, who managed just a combined six hits until the ninth and were involved in a benches clearing altercation in the seventh inning.
Bumgarner was a monster, striking out 10 while allowing just one hit in seven innings of work. The big left hander dominated the Dodger hitters with his signature high fastball, but was strangely pulled in the seventh after throwing just 97 pitches. It’s unclear whether or not a bench clearing fracas with Yasiel Puig that directly preceded Bumgarner being pinch hit for in the eighth inning was related to the decision.
Bumgarner notched the 240th strikeout as a San Francisco Giant, the most by a left-handed pitcher in team history.
Considering the events that followed, Giants manager Bruce Bochy’s decision to pull Bumgarner will be heavily scrutinized.
Against a generational talent like Kershaw, scoring often means taking advantage of even the smallest opportunities, and that’s exactly what Eduardo Nunez did to give the Giants their only run of the game in the third inning. Nunez reached on a two out infield single, and looked like he may have tweaked the oblique muscle that took him out of the San Diego series on a headfirst slide to first. Nunez showed his toughness, fighting through obvious pain to steal second, then take third base on a throwing error by Yasmani Grandal. A wild pitch by Kershaw then allowed Nunez to score easily, giving San Francisco a 1-0 lead.
Nunez’ seven pitch at bat in the in sixth inning likely had an effect on Kershaw getting pulled in the sixth inning, with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts not wanting to take any chances with his ace in his third start after a stint on the 60-day disabled list. Kershaw was stellar in his own right, allowing only the run to Nunez while striking out seven, but had a pitch count of 88 in just six innings of work.
Besides the dominant pitching, the only other excitement came in the bottom of the seventh inning, when a stare down between Bumgarner and Yasiel Puig turned into a verbal spat, causing both benches to clear. A Bumgarner throw to first to get Puig out on a close play preceded the altercation, which seemed to escalate when Bumgarner could be seen saying “Don’t look at me.”
It was an exciting start to what looks to be an entertaining series, with another marquee pitching matchup slated for tomorrow. Coming off a dominant performance of his own Johnny Cueto will toe the rubber for San Francisco, facing the Dodgers’ Rich Hill, who has been nearly unhittable since being traded from the Oakland A’s midseason. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 on KNBR 680.
