The Los Angeles Dodgers played possibly their biggest series this season from September 3rd to the 5th against the San Francisco Giants. This series is the last meeting between these two teams this season. Major League Baseball did not think the Giants would be in first place and have the best record in baseball. No one expected the Giants to be in first place, and the World Series Champion Dodgers would be chasing them for the NL West Title. The most exciting part of this series is that both teams were tied for first place, so one team would emerge from the series in sole possession of first place.
In the first game of this series, the Dodgers decided to run with a bullpen game which Corey Knebel started, while the Giants started Anthony DeSclafani. The Dodgers’ bullpen pitched their heart out, only giving up one earned run in this 11-inning game. Almost every single Dodger pitcher pitched in this game. The standouts in this bullpen game were the starter Corey Knebel, Justin Bruihl, and Kenley Jansen. Corey Knebel pitched two solid innings, and Justin Bruihl came into the 5th inning and pitched one inning and striking out one batter. I was stunned to look him up and see his ERA at 1.64. The Dodgers have been big fans of Bruihl, but I didn’t expect him to have an ERA that low. The Dodger closer Kenley Jansen came into the 9th inning and gave Dodger fans heart attacks. Jansen immediately walked the leadoff hitter Darren Ruff on four pitches that weren’t close. He then faced Brandon Belt, threw two more balls before Belt swung at a pitch outside the zone and flew out sharply to center field. Kenley then faced Kris Bryant and walked him. He didn’t have any control over his pitches. Pitching coach Mark Pryor ended up making a mound visit, and it worked because Kenley settled in and got the next two batters to fly out and ground out. Besides Corey Seager, the Dodgers offense was simply nonexistent. Corey Seager went 4-5 with three singles and a double. Max Muncy has struggled these past 15 games, hitting .132 with only two homeruns and two RBIs. The Dodgers lost this game 3-2 in the 11th inning after a throwing error by the second baseman Trea Turner to Will Smith, who has never played 1st base in his professional career.
In the second game of the series, the Giants decided to throw a bullpen game which Jay Jackson started, and the Dodgers started Julio Urias. Urias threw a solid game, going 5 and 2/3 innings giving up one run on eight hits while striking out eight and walking no one. This was an efficient outing for Urias. I wish he would have given up fewer hits and gone a little deeper in the game, but beggars can’t be choosers. After Urias, the Dodgers threw Vesia, Bickford, Treinen, and Graterol who collectively did not give up a hit. Offensively, the Dodgers did score six runs but on only six hits. No Dodger had multiple hits in this game, but the standout offensive players were Trea Turner and Corey Seager. Turner hit a leadoff home run to start the game, and Corey Seager homered in the 9th inning. The Dodgers ended up winning this game 6-1, tying them again for first place in the NL West with the rubber match at the next and last regular-season meeting of the two teams.
In the rubber match between the teams, the Dodgers started their ace, and CY Young favorite Walker Buehler and the Giants threw another bullpen game, starting Dominic Leone. Walker Buehler had his worst start of the season at the worst time for the Dodgers, giving up six runs on seven hits while striking out only one batter and walking one. Buehler only lasted three innings which was not what the Dodgers were hoping for after throwing a bullpen game to start the series. The Dodgers bullpen, led by Justin Bruihl, stopped the hemorrhaging and shut the Giants down allowing no runs on three hits. The Dodger offense only had six hits again in this game, scoring four runs. Will Smith went 1-3 with an RBI single in the second inning and worked a bases-loaded walk that gave him another RBI in the fifth inning. With the Dodgers down 6-2 going into the ninth inning, the Dodgers brought in pinch hitter Austin Barnes to hit for Cody Bellinger because of the Giants’ left-handed relief pitcher. Austin got on base on an error by Kris Bryant. The Dodgers then brought in Albert Pujols to pinch-hit for Andrew Vasquez. Pujols, one of the best hitters in MLB history, hit a clutch 2-run homerun, making the score 6-4 and giving the Dodger fans some hope. Trea Turner popped out, and then Max Muncy got a base hit, his first of the series. After that, unfortunately, Mookie Betts struck out, and Justin Turner fouled out, with the final score of 6-4 in favor of the Giants.
This was a tough series for the Dodgers as they are now a game behind the Giants, and now need to win two more games than the Giants to win the NL West. This will be challenging because the Giants don’t seem lose a game when the Dodgers win and vice versa.