For each of the first six innings, the Dodgers put at least one runner on base. But Sam Long, Tyler Rogers and Dominic Leone showed poise from the stretch, navigating traffic to shut out Los Angeles’ league-best offense.
Then Zack Littell took the ball for the seventh inning and it looked like a 10-car pileup was inevitable. He walked Chris Taylor and allowed two singles to load the bases with no outs.
Jarlin García relieved Littell with Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner due up. In seven pitches, he erased both All-Stars and ended the inning with a strikeout and double play.
García overcame one of the toughest relief situations imaginable. Then he handed Camilo Doval one nearly as challenging. After Cody Bellinger’s ground rule double halved SF’s lead to 2-1, Doval inherited runners on second and third with one out. He walked the bases loaded, then struck out both Gavin Lux and Mookie Betts to end the eighth.
Doval pounded his chest twice as he hopped off the mound after fanning Betts, an early National League MVP contender.
In front of a mostly Dodger blue crowd at Oracle Park, in what felt like a playoff game, the Giants stole a 3-2 win. The Giants (32-26) used seven escape artists as pitchers. The Dodgers out-hit SF 12-to-5 and threatened to score every single inning, but the Giants’ bullpen — the same one that brought up the rear in the month of May — held the Dodgers off just enough.
To give the pitching staff a lead, the Giants had to beat Clayton Kershaw in his first start back from the injured list. Before his back flared up, Kershaw owned a 1.80 ERA over 30 innings. He’d struck out 32 and walked just three batters.
The Giants loaded up with seven right-handed batters in the starting lineup to counter Kershaw’s return. Backup catcher Austin Wynns moonlit as the designated hitter. Fresh up from Sacramento, Heliot Ramos hit third.
“I’m ready for him,” Ramos said pregame.
Ramos went 0-for-2, but other Giants seemed to share his confidence.
In the second inning, Estrada launched a solo shot over the left field fence. González followed him up with a lined RBI single into shallow right-center. Both hits came with two strikes; opposing batters were hitting .161 in two-strike counts against Kershaw before Saturday.
Neither Estrada nor González had ever faced the future first-ballot Hall of Famer before their second-inning knocks.
Sam Long allowed a baserunner in all three of his innings, but surrendered nothing more than that. The spot-starter has now thrown nine consecutive scoreless innings across his past four appearances — six of which came this week. His ERA on the season after Saturday rests at 1.96.
Estrada helped Long out too by charging a ground ball off the lip of the mound and throwing out the speedy Trea Turner to end the third inning. The second baseman also made a nice over-the-shoulder snag in foul territory to retire Will Smith.
On Thursday, Estrada committed two errors in a loss to the Rockies. His miscues represented teamwide defensive shortcomings that were costing the Giants wins. But his web gems Saturday highlighted the area SF must improve in.
San Francisco needed a sharp defense for its sum-of-the-parts strategy. The Dodgers struck out just twice in the first seven innings, constantly forcing SF to make plays in the field.
With three starters on the injured list, the Giants asked its bullpen to cover nine innings. The Dodgers put at least one runner on base in each of the first six innings, but Long, Tyler Rogers and Dominic Leone kept LA scoreless.
Then Littell’s turn came. He loaded the bases and put García in arguably the toughest spot imaginable: no outs, bases loaded against the heart of LA’s order.
García — with Estrada’s help — saved SF’s lead. His full-count fastball got Freeman to whiff, and Estrada spun Turner’s grounder into an inning-ending double play.
Doval, with the bases loaded, fell behind 3-0 to Betts. A walk would have tied the game. But SF’s flamethrower tossed three consecutive sliders for strikes, the third of which tied up Betts.
San Francisco added a run in the bottom of the eighth when Craig Kimbrel’s command issues caught up to him. He hit Brandon Crawford with a pitch, but Crawford committed on his check swing; the ball skittered away for a wild pitch and Joc Pederson scored from third.
Then Freddie Freeman took José Álvarez deep to lead off the ninth inning. The wacky hit-by-pitch run came in handy. Álvarez hadn’t allowed a home run to a left-handed batter since 2019 before earlier this week. But he recovered and earned his first save of the season by forcing Cody Bellinger to ground out with two runners on.
Like San Francisco did all game, Álvarez escaped from a jam. SF limited the Dodgers to 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 14 runners.
After slogging through May with a league-worst 6.26 ERA, San Francisco’s bullpen won it a game, securing a series victory over the Dodgers.
