LOS ANGELES – Although the Arizona Diamondbacks did their part by defeating the Miami Marlins, the Giants could not keep the Dodgers from clinching their fifth consecutive NL West division title Friday night. Despite a rare home run given up by LA closer Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning, it was not enough for the Giants to match Cody Bellinger’s record-breaking three-run homer.
“That three-run homer, that was a lot of damage,” Bruce Bochy said. “One hiccup and that four-run inning, but really other than that, we played really good baseball. We pitched well, but we just couldn’t climb back into it.”
Jeff Samardzija began his night by retiring the first seven batters in succession. By striking out Curtis Granderson to start the second inning, 2017 became Samardzija’s third 200-plus strikeout season of his career. He went on the strikeout the next batter, Andre Ethier, for his fourth and final strikeout of the night, giving him 201 this season.
Speaking of 200.
Pitching 4 and 1/3 innings made Samardzija the only pitcher to exceed 200 innings pitched each of the previous five seasons. He has averaged roughly 210 innings since 2013, his most coming in 2014 when he threw 219.2 innings.
“It’s a product of just working hard and doing your job,” Samardzija said. “We’d rather win that game, protect that one-run lead and carry that all the way through, but the third inning got me there.”
Unfortunately, Bellinger played the spoiler to Samardzija’s accomplishments, who ultimately took the loss, bringing his record to 9-15 on the season. With his 39th long ball of 2017, Bellinger etched his name atop the 60-year-old NL rookie record for home runs, and gave the Dodgers the runs they needed to secure their victory.
Although the Giants initially went ahead thanks to an RBI single by Buster Posey in the first inning, that proved to be the most offense they mustered against Dodgers starter Rich Hill, who improved to 11-8.
After the first inning, Hill held the Giants to two hits while striking out eight, including four in a row through the second and into the third inning. Even after Hill left the mound after six strong innings, the Giants only put two runners on base before Pablo Sandoval took Jansen deep in the ninth. Although Sandoval’s long ball left Dodger Stadium in plenty of time, Jansen wasted no time in closing the door, and struck out the next three batters.
“Pablo got us within two there, but congrats to them,” Bochy said. “They’ve had a tremendous year.”
