In a battle of two of the top southpaws in baseball, Madison Bumgarner showed the world why the Giants aren't going anywhere, despite the Melky Cabrera mess.
Even with Clayton Kershaw striking out 10 over eight innings, the offense never got a thing going against Bumgarner, and the Giants retook first place in the NL West by winning 2-1.
The Giants established themselves right away, as Angel Pagan led off the game with a double to center. Marco Scutaro sacrificed him over to third, and Pablo Sandoval's sac-fly RBI made it 1-0.
There wasn't exactly a whole lot going on from there, as both Bumgarner and Kershaw made life miserable for the hitters. The Dodgers did put two on in the second when Juan Rivera was beaned and Luis Cruz singled, but A.J. Ellis struck out.
Trying to make something happen, the Dodgers ran into a couple of outs on steal attempts. Shane Victorino was erased to make it two down in the second, and a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play ended the fifth when Ellis K'd and Cruz was gunned down by Buster Posey.
The Giants made some noise with two outs in the sixth to increase their lead. Pagan started things again by singling. Scutaro did the same to set things up again for Sandoval. Fighting off an inside pitch, Sandoval softly singled into left, and Victorino's throw home was just a hair too late, allowing Pagan to score and make it 2-0.
Kershaw tried to get the offense going on his own by hitting his second single of the night leading off the bottom of the sixth. Victorino forced him at second, and Mark Ellis lined out to right on a nice play by Hunter Pence. Victorino finally got his legs going, as he stole second and then third. Matt Kemp had a great chance to drive in a run, but struck out on a full count.
It all came down to the ninth, as Bumgarner was lifted after eight innings of shutout ball, striking out 10. Sergio Romo struck out Ellis for the first down, then got Kemp grounding out to short.
Just when all looked lost, Hanley Ramirez cranked a solo shot to deep left center, giving Dodger Stadium some life at 2-1. Bruce Bochy brought in lefty specialist Javier Lopez to pitch to Andre Ethier, and it worked with a groundout to first to end the game.
There's not a whole lot more Kershaw could have done to keep the Dodgers' hot play going. He really only made one bad pitch the whole game (Pagan's double in the first), and the rest of the way were soft singles. He took the loss to fall to 11-7, but still has great numbers with a 2.87 ERA and 1.00 WHIP.
This is one of those games where the opposing pitcher deserves all the credit in the world for throwing an incredible game. The Dodgers certainly are upgraded on offense and have been clicking lately, but they had absolutely no chance on Monday night. Cruz looked good with two singles, and Kershaw actually did the same. But the top five in the order of Victorino, Ellis, Kemp, Ramirez, and Ethier all went hitless against him. It was truly one of those nights.
Even though Bumgarner was awesome, there's still no denying that it's another loss at home for the Dodgers. Since the All-Star break, they're only 6-10 at Dodger Stadium, which is really weird considering they were so good at home in the first half. I have to think this will eventually change, as I just can't see them struggling so much like they have. Let's hope it happens during these next two games.
Speaking of struggling, Joe Blanton will get the start on Tuesday. And when you throw in Tim Lincecum starting for the Giants, I'd say it's all about pitchers looking to turn things around. Blanton is 0-2 with an enormous 8.22 ERA in three starts with the Dodgers. Lincecum has barely done a lick all year, as he's been one of the biggest disappointments in baseball at 6-13 with a 5.45 ERA. Something has to give.
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