The San Francisco Giants will have a chance to move into a playoff spot when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday in the middle game of a three-game series.
The Giants (75-72) moved a half game out of a National League wild-card spot in dramatic fashion Friday when Patrick Bailey hit a game-ending grand slam against the Dodgers for a 5-1 victory in 10 innings.
According to MLB.com, Bailey is the first player to have a game-ending grand slam and a game-ending inside-the-park home run in the same season.
San Francisco came through in the first of seven games against rival Los Angeles over a span of 10 days.
The Giants improved to 14-4 since Aug. 23 to charge into playoff contention and won Friday even as they made 23 consecutive outs between a Willy Adames RBI double in the first inning and a Dodgers error to lead off the ninth. The New York Mets, currently sitting in the final wild-card spot, have lost seven games in a row.
“There have been extremes all year and we’re riding this one right now,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “It’s taken everyone to win these games. The roster looks different than it did earlier in the year. … I know this as probably as electric as the clubhouse has been after a game this year.”
The Giants are set to send right-hander Logan Webb (14-9, 3.12) to the mound. Webb is 6-6 with a 4.33 ERA in 18 career starts against the Dodgers and is 2-0 with a 5.84 ERA against them this season.
He can become the first Giants pitcher to have three wins against the Dodgers in a season since Johnny Cueto in 2016.
Having had an off day Thursday, the Giants are skipping the rotation spot occupied by Kai-Wei Teng on Sunday and will keep Webb on four days of rest to face the Dodgers.
Giants first baseman Dominic Smith is set for an MRI on his hamstring after he was injured stretching for a throw in Friday’s game.
Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw (10-2, 3.27) is set to pitch in the visiting ballpark where he has performed the most. Kershaw has made 30 appearances (28 starts) in San Francisco and has gone 15-7 with a 1.69 ERA in 197 1/3 innings.
His career record against the Giants is 27-16 with an ERA of 2.00 in 61 games (59 appearances). This season, he defeated the Giants 11-5 on June 14, when he pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up just three hits
The Dodgers (82-65) have received dominating pitching of late, but the offense failed them Friday with just one run. Yoshinobu Yamamoto gave up one hit for the second consecutive outing (15 2/3 total innings) and Los Angeles lost both games.
Kershaw ended the team’s five-game losing streak Sunday at Baltimore by allowing two runs over 5 2/3 innings. Shohei Ohtani added two home runs in the game.
“I thought overall it was a decent day, stuff-wise,” Kershaw said of the outing. “I think my curveball was maybe a little better than it has been. Putting it in some good spots too which is helpful. … Then I started to get on a roll in the middle innings, which helped.”
Los Angeles third baseman Max Muncy left the game in the eighth inning on Friday when he was hit in the left arm by a pitch. Manager Dave Roberts said X-rays were negative and Muncy could return to action as early as Saturday.
The Dodgers have a 2 1/2-game lead over the second-place San Diego Padres in the NL West but missed a chance to make it 3 1/2 games Friday after the Padres lost 4-2 to the Colorado Rockies on Friday. The Giants are seven games back in the division chase.
–Field Level Media
