SAN FRANCISCO,
United States — The San Francisco Giants hold an edge in the
standings, but the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers will have the advantage in
starting pitchers when the National League West rivals continue their
high-stakes series.
اضافة اعلان
In a game that
featured 17 pitchers and each team making a backs-to-the-wall comeback, the
Giants (86-49) secured a one-game lead over the Dodgers (85-50) atop the
division with a 3-2 win in 11 innings in the series opener on Friday.
Los Angeles was
forced to turn the contest into a bullpen game after scheduled starter David
Price was scratched due to shoulder pain.
Fortunately for the
Dodgers, they'll have major-league wins leader Julio Urias (15-3, 3.17 ERA) available
for the rematch. The Giants, in turn, are scrambling for a starter.
A wild series
opener included Dodgers ace Walker Buehler pinch running and scoring the
go-ahead run in the 10th inning. Los Angeles later was forced to let its last
available pitcher -- Evan Phillips -- bat in a crucial situation in the 11th.
The game ended with
Dodgers’ catcher Will Smith making his major-league debut at first base, and
the Giants prepared to use their top pitcher, Logan Webb, in the outfield had
the game gone to a 12th inning.
Smith was involved
in the final play of the game, when he pulled his foot off first base in order
to catch Trea Turner's high throw with two outs and the bases loaded. When he
couldn't reach back for the base in time, Buster Posey was ruled safe at first
and Brandon Belt scored to end the game. Turner was charged with an error.
San Francisco
manager Gabe Kapler left the park with a win, but was unable or unwilling to
announce his starting pitcher for the next game. The slot was left vacant by
Alex Wood's recent positive COVID-19 test and Johnny Cueto's sore arm.
Regardless of who
starts for the Giants, that pitcher figures to be supported by a home crowd the
manager labeled as the loudest of the season at Friday night’s game.
Agreeing was veteran
shortstop Brandon Crawford, who singled in the tying run in the 10th inning and
threw out a potential Dodgers go-ahead run at the plate in the 11th.
"It looked
like a full house," Crawford said of a season-best home crowd of 39,338.
"It was great to get it packed in here again. It was pretty loud all
night, so that was great."
Urias will take the
mound riding an 11-game unbeaten streak dating to June 21. He's gone 6-0 with a
2.01 ERA over that span, with the Dodgers winning nine of those 11 games.
The 25-year-old
left-hander has started four games against the Giants this season, going 1-1
with a 3.80 ERA. He has faced them 19 times in his career, 13 times as a
starter, going 1-3 with a 2.69 ERA.
Urias hasn't
pitched into the seventh inning in any of his last six starts, which could be
problematic this time with the Dodgers having used every available reliever in
Friday's loss.
The good news for
Los Angeles is that none of them pitched more than two innings.
Coincidentally, the
bullpen circus came hours after Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said his team was
getting close to welcoming back Clayton Kershaw.
The three-time NL
Cy Young Award recipient has been out since July 3 with discomfort in his
forearm.
"The next step
for Clayton will be to throw a (bullpen session) on Sunday," Roberts
announced before Friday's game. "Once he gets through that, we'll figure
out where he goes on a rehab assignment, which would be either Tuesday or
Wednesday. After he gets through that -- we would assume healthy and all goes well
-- then the next outing will be with us."
The Dodgers have
Buehler set for the series finale on Sunday. The Giants, who have used their
top three healthy pitchers in the last three games, again are undecided.
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