The Giants Were Swinging for the Pences as Dodgers Lose Series

Dodgers 3 9 0

Giants 4 6 1

WP- Machi (3-1)

LP- Rodriguez (3-3)

S- Romo (35)

HR- Pence 2 (25), Pill (3)

It was the worst game I have ever attended at Dodger Stadium in my life. The Dodgers allowed a unfathomable 19 runs on 22 hits to the hated pumpkin colored foes on Saturday night. In fact, it was the most runs allowed to an opponent in the 51 years of Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers hadn’t allowed 19 runs since they played at the Coliseum. Ricky Nolasco‘s start was disastrous, and the right-hander only made four outs before he was hooked. Stephen Fife allowed more runs. Brandon League capped off the ninth with another two runs. The most disgusting point in the so-called game was Hunter Pence‘s grand slam in the fifth inning off of Fife. Pence had 7 RBIs on 3 hits in the game. There were hordes of Giants fans at Dodger Stadium to my abhorrence, and the hated ones took over Dodger Stadium for the night.

Then there were the injuries. Oh, the injuries. Yasiel Puig now has a sore hip. It’s unclear whether it is a flare up of his earlier season hip soreness or it was caused from his diving slide in game three. Carl Crawford is sore. Ethier is sore. Hanley is sore. It’s concerning. The Dodgers will need to lick their wounds in this last part of September, because October is not for the weary. The Dodgers will need to recapture that magical play at the right time in order to move forward toward that ultimate goal. They have the talent, but do they have the health and tenacity?

Even though the Dodgers lost on historic levels last night, I still got to watch the wild horse himself play. Puig is one of those players who brings excitement to the baseball field like Jackie Robinson once did. Here is a video clip I took of Puig advancing to third base on a Carl Crawford groundout on Saturday:

Edinson Volquez starts off well in the top of the first as he retires the side in order. Skip Schumaker is a bit sketchy out there in center field, but he makes the first out on the well hit ball by Gregor Blanco. Marco Scutaro and Brandon Belt both strike out.

Edinson Volquez wasn’t terrible, and the right-hander could find a place on this team. Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Other than a beautiful one-out double by Mark Ellis in the home half of the first, the Dodgers aren’t able to muster anything else against Ryan Vogelsong. Adrian Gonzalez flies out, and Juan Uribe grounds out.

Hunter Pence strikes again. He goes deep against Volquez in the top of the second with a solo shot to left center field to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. Pence now has homered in each of the four games in the series.

Skip Schumaker leads off in the bottom of the second with a single which bounces off the first base bag. Jerry Hairston Jr. flies out. A.J. Ellis grounds out, but Schumaker has a nice jump and reaches second. Then Nick a.k.a. “Chili” Buss proceeds to ground out to end the inning.

Edinson Volquez allows a single and stolen base to Blanco in the top of the third, but he ends up striking out the side as Juan Perez, Ryan Vogelsong, and Marco Scutaro all go down on strikes.

In the bottom of the third, Mark Ellis singles to left field with two outs for his second hit of the game. Gonzo flies out to right field, and the Dodgers strand MEllis again.

Brandon Belt strikes out to begin the fourth inning. Volquez is able to retire Pence thanks to a great play by Uribe at third. Sandoval flies out to left. Volquez pitches a

Adrian Gonzalez’s bases clearing double in the fifth inning tied up the game. Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

1-2-3 inning.

Juan Uribe triples off the center field wall to start the bottom of the fourth. The ball was hit so hard it looked as though it went out. The umpires review the play, and their original call stands as a triple. The replay showed the ball hitting the very top of the wall. The Dodgers end up stranding Uribe at third after Schumaker strikes out, Hairston lines out to short, and A.J. Ellis lines out to center. What a waste.

Even though Hector Sanchez leads off the fifth with a single off the wall of the right field corner, Volquez retires the next three batters for a scoreless frame. Vogelsong strikes out for the third out, and Volquez has six strikeouts thus far.

In the bottom of the fifth, Nick Buss grounds out. Edinson Volquez singles on a squirmy infield hit to second. Crawford bumbles around with it a bit. Dee Gordon follows with a single. Then Mark Ellis is hit by a pitch to load the bases up for the Dodgers with one out. Then Adrian Gonzalez comes up clutch with the bases loaded as usual with a huge bases clearing double down the right field line! The Dodgers take a 3-1 lead. Gonzalez now has 95 RBIs on the season.

Hunter Pence hit two homeruns on Sunday and five homeruns in the four-game series against the Dodgers. Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Edinson Volquez strikes out Blanco to begin the sixth. Belt singles with two outs. With Pence in the box there is the obligatory wild pitch unleashed by Volquez which allows Belt to move to second. Then if things couldn’t get worse for the Dodgers this series with Pence, the fidgety outfielder proceeds to hit his second homerun of the game. The Giants tie it up, and Volquez is knocked out. Can they stop pitching to Pence?  J.P. Howell comes in and retires Sandoval, but the damage is done.

Edinson Volquez allowed 3 runs on 5 hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out 7 while walking none on 88 pitches.

The Dodgers go down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the sixth as JHair, A.J., and Buss all ground out consecutively.

Howell begins the seventh inning and he induces a groundout from Sanchez for the first out. He then walks Crawford, and Mattingly will go to the bullpen again. Brian Wilson will come in and try to preserve the tie. Angel Pagan comes off the bench and grounds into a force out. The Beard is throwing heat, and he even hits 96-mph on the gun. He strikes out pinch-hitter Johnny Monell to end the frame.

Adrian Gonzalez’s bases clearing double in the fifth inning tied up the game. Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Ryan Vogelsong pitched 6 innings and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits with 2 strikeouts and no walks on 91 pitches.

Jean Machi is in for the bottom of the seventh to relieve Vogelsong. Gordon draws a one-out walk. Machi throws the ball away on a pickoff attempt, and Gordon takes second on the error. Bruce Bochy isn’t stupid, and he intentionally walks Gonzalez to get to Uribe. Machi strikes out Uribe, and the Dodgers strand Dee at third for the second time.

Paco is in for the eighth inning. Brett Pill proceeds to hit a solo homerun to left field, and the Giants take a 4-3 lead. With Pence coming up to bat, Don Mattingly will make his patented DonnieSwitch™. Ronald Belisario will come in to pitch and Nick Punto will play at third base. Beli walks Pence, which was a good idea. Sandoval grounds out to second.

Santiago Casilla sets the Dodgers down 1-2-3 in the home half of the eighth.

Belisario pitches a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the ninth, and he retires the side on three fly balls.

Nick Buss flares a single to lead-off the bottom of the ninth against Sergio Romo. Nick

Ryan Vogelsong’s only mistake was to Gonzo. Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Punto sacrifices Buss to second with a bunt. Dee Gordon then collects his second hit of the game with a single to right field. Buss stops at third. With MEllis at bat, Gordon steals his 9th base of the year. Romo intentionally walks Gonzalez to load the bases up with two outs. Yasiel Puig will come out of the dugout to pinch-hit even though he didn’t start today due to a sore hip. Puig lines in to a force out, and the Dodgers fall to the Giants and lose the series.

The Dodgers *Magic Number remains 4* since Arizona won their game on Sunday.

Tomorrow the Dodgers head out to Arizona for their final meeting with the D-backs at Chase Field. Trevor Cahill and Hyun-jin Ryu will counter in game one. The Dodgers could perceivably clinch the division in the four-game series as early as Tuesday.