SF Giants blast five home runs in 7-4 victory over Dodgers
Coming off their impressive sweep of the Phillies over the weekend, the SF Giants snapped their 10-game losing streak at Dodgers Stadium with a 7-4 victory over their biggest rivals. Several of the Giants' in-season acquisitions showed off their power and blasted them past the Dodgers.
With the west coast inundated in a severe heatwave, the ball was flying at Dodger Stadium with no wind or humidity to knock them down. In such a flyball-friendly environment, the Giants had to feel good heading into the matchup with groundball pitcher Logan Webb on the hill.
Things were dicey early, though. Dodgers starting pitcher Andrew Heaney looked untouchable early, overpowering the Giants with his deceptive low-90s fastball and slider.
Webb, on the other hand, had to work around an immediate baserunner after an Evan Longoria throwing error allowed Mookie Betts to reach base. The Dodgers star-studded lineup immediately made the Giants pay when Webb tried to jam Freddie Freeman with a slider inside and the six-time All-Star pulled it down the right-field line for a two-run homer.
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The Giants' offense turned things around against Heaney in the third inning. David Villar got things started with a two-strike single to lead off the inning. It setup the Giants lineup to do plenty of damage their second time through the order. Lewis Brinson showed off the power that once made him one of the best prospects in MLB. After fouling off a bunt, Brinson sent a fastball from Heaney 429' to straightaway center field for a two-run homer to tie the game.
Two batters later, J.D. Davis sent another fastball from Heaney out over the center-field wall for his fifth home run since he was acquired by the Giants in a package for Darin Ruf. Just like that, the Giants were leading 3-2.
Davis has been fantastic since joining San Francisco and has far outperformed Ruf in New York. The Giants' side of that trade looks even better given an impressive recent performance from one of the pitching prospects they acquired. Many were critical of Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi's decision to avoid major moves at the deadline, but the early returns on the trades he did make are looking very good.
In the fourth inning, Thairo Estrada and David Villar tagged Heaney for his third and fourth homers allowed in the game. With the Giants leading 6-2, manager Gabe Kapler opted to make an early defensive adjustment, replacing Villar with outfielder Mike Yastrzemski to shift several defenders to their best positions. The move seemed a bit preemptive given how the ball was flying. However, it would prove to be a prescient decision.
The Dodgers immediately countered with a rally of their own in the bottom of the fourth. Freeman and Max Muncy singled to start the inning before a one-out double by Joey Gallo drove in a run and put runners on second and third.
Miguel Vargas flew out to right field, which probably could have driven in a run. However, with Yastrzemski's arm in the field, Muncy chose not to tag up from third base. Then, Webb buckled down and struck out Cody Bellinger to end the inning.
The following inning, the Giants defense picked up Webb once again. Austin Barnes led off the bottom of the fifth with a single and Betts lined a ball into left field for a double. Had Estrada, a natural infielder, still been in left, Barnes probably would have scored. Instead, Bryce Johnson played the ball well and quickly relayed a throw to Brandon Crawford who nailed Barnes at the plate. A couple of batters later, Evan Longoria made a tremendous leaping catch to take a hit away from Freeman that would have driven in a run.
Webb never looked sharp on Monday, but as has been the case for much of this season, he did a tremendous job limiting the damage. He retired the side in the sixth inning and finished the night with six strikeouts having allowed seven hits and three runs (two earned) without walking a batter.
The Giants called up righty Yunior Marte earlier on Monday, and with a bullpen game on the horizon tomorrow, Kapler turned to him in the seventh. Marte surrendered a solo homer to Barnes in his 1.1 innings of work but left the game with the bases empty and a 6-4 lead.
Kapler handed the ball to southpaw Scott Alexander next, who used his platoon advantage against Freeman and Muncy to strike out two of Los Angeles' most dangerous hitters.
Brinson added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, homering for the second time in the game to give the Giants a 7-4 lead. It's too early to speak with certainty, but Brinson has bought himself a long look in San Francisco after Monday's multi-homer performance.
With a three-run lead, Kapler turned to closer Camilo Doval, who despite pitching for the third-consecutive day, only allowed a single while striking out a pair to record his 20th save of the season.
The SF Giants are now 65-68 after winning their fourth-straight game and are 7.5 games back of the Padres for the final playoff spot in the National League. The Brewers are the lone team between them and San Diego, although the Diamondbacks are only a half-game back of San Francisco. The Dodgers will host the Giants again on Tuesday night with first pitch scheduled for 7:10 PM Pacific.
