LOS ANGELES — In a night filled with rookie contributions, the longest-serving player in this rivalry made the winning run.
Brandon Crawford’s single gave the Giants the lead in the top of the 11th and they held on for a 7-5 victory over the Dodgers, who blew a four-run lead late in the frame before setting up their own back to ninth.
The Giants’ seventh straight road win came on a night they looked lifeless against a rookie, then saw their top reliever get a rare night off. After Crawford’s single, Austin Slater fired another run with a right-hand single.
Jakob Junis closed it out late in the inning for his first career stoppage.
The wild finish came on a night the Giants went without a hit against Emmet Sheehan in his MLB debut. Sheehan went six hitless innings, nearly matching Ross Stripling’s momentous first night, but the Giants scored five runs on their first two cracks in a Dodgers bullpen that threatens to derail their season.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth, when Will Smith pulled out a good slider that was down and inside, pushing it into center field for an RBI single. The Dodgers scored four runs against Sean Manaea in the inning, but the lead didn’t last long once their struggling bullpen got involved.
Wilmer Flores fouled a ball from his toe in the seventh and looked like he was in a lot of pain, but seconds later he hit a two-point shot from left that cut the deficit in half. The Giants erased the remainder then took the lead in the eighth on RBI ahead of Joc Pederson, Thairo Estrada and Casey Schmitt.
Camilo Doval had converted 15 consecutive save chances since April 30, but with one out in the ninth, he gave up back-to-back singles to Miguel Rojas, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. The Dodgers might have made the ninth if it hadn’t been for a terrific pitch from Patrick Bailey:
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The previous six wins on the road were filled with late comebacks, and the Giants once again showed patience and depth while scoring five runs in the seventh and eighth.
The eighth-inning rally began with a walk from Luis Matos, who had previously hit two deep volleys. Austin Slater’s pinch single kept the line moving and Pederson won a rare left-on-left game with an RBI left single. Estrada’s sacrificial fly tied the game and Schmitt beat a grounder at short to give the Giants the lead.
In both innings, eight different giants made it to base.
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Sheehan took the no-no all the way to sixth largely because of Betts. The right fielder took down LaMonte Wade Jr.’s understudy to right center for the second out of the sixth, then made a diving grab from Pederson’s rocket on the right that ended up being Sheehan’s last out.
This space is usually reserved for Giants highlights, but Betts’ play was too good. Pederson’s understudy in the sixth was hit at 115 mph, making it the second-hardest batted ball of the season by a Giant:
Pederson has the five hardest-hit balls of the season, and it’s the only one not hit. The other four resulted in two home runs and two singles.
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The Dodgers lost David Peralta (left hamstring strain) and Chris Taylor (right knee pain) to injuries during the game and replaced them with Outman and fellow rookie Michael Busch. That streak kind of made the Giants, who started Matos and Bailey, look old in comparison.
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At that time, the Dodgers had five rookies in the game, including one on the mound who has never even seen the PCL. Sheehan’s promotion from Double-A lasted only a few days before he was needed in the major leagues.
The Giants used four rookies, with Ryan Walker pitching 1 1/3 relief innings and Schmitt replacing Flores in the seventh. They still have the youth advantage this season, having used eight rookies to the Dodgers’ six. Times have certainly changed in this rivalry.
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