Six-run fifth inning helps Dodgers defeat Giants in a 13-7 slugfest

After scoring just one run on Friday, the Dodgers bats erupted in a Saturday night slugfest that resulted in a 13-7 victory.

The Dodgers got to right-hander Logan Webb quickly, as Shohei Ohtani led off the game with an infield single against the shift. Freddie Freeman knocked in Ohtani with a base hit down the left field line, but he was gunned down at second trying to stretch a single into a double.

The Giants proceeded to give Clayton Kershaw fits in the bottom half of the first, as Heliot Ramos led off with a single before Rafael Devers won a nine pitch battle with a walk. Willy Adames and Matt Chapman brought home both Ramos and Devers with a pair of singles before Kershaw recorded his first out with a strikeout of Wilmer Flores. Jerar Encarnación plated Adames on a fielder’s choice, with Luis Matos promptly following with an RBI single to make it a four-run first inning against Kershaw. Kershaw needed 36 pitches and a full go-around through the Giants lineup to bring an end to the first inning.

The Dodgers immediately responded by loading the bases on three consecutive singles to begin the top of the second inning. Webb was able to get Miguel Rojas to pop out to second base before getting Ben Rortvedt to ground into a double play, once again exacerbating the Dodgers incapabilities of hitting with the bases loaded.

After Kershaw got two quick outs, the Giants also loaded the bases with a single and a pair of walks, but Kershaw left the bases loaded by getting Casey Schmitt to ground out to.

Ohtani trimmed the Dodger deficit in half with a titanic shot to dead center field that hit the batter’s eye. It was his 49th home run of the season, tying Shawn Green for the second-most home runs in a single season by a Dodger, and travelled 454 feet, surpassing Alex Call by a foot for the longest home run hit by a Dodger this year.

Teoscar Hernández brought the deficit to a single run with an RBI double, but Webb struck out Michael Conforto to leave the tying run on base. Clayton Kershaw managed to get through a perfect nine pitch inning, but his day was done after just three innings, his shortest start since May 23 where he went just two innings against the New York Mets.

Edgardo Henríquez took over for Kershaw in the bottom of the fourth inning, and struck out the side in his lone inning of work.

The Dodgers once again loaded the bases against Webb with nobody out, forcing Giants manager Bob Melvin to relieve his ace with right-hander José Buttó. Hernández greeted Buttó with a go-ahead two-run double that landed just out of the reach of a diving Matos. Conforto followed with a sacrifice fly to push the Dodger lead to two, but the floodgates burst open with a two-run double from Ben Rortvedt. Mookie Betts plated the Dodgers sixth run of the inning with an RBI single that forced Buttó out of the game.

The Giants made things interesting against Kirby Yates in the bottom of the fifth, as they scored three two-out runs to make it a two run game. Justin Wrobleski was called upon to end the inning, and he managed to strike out Heliot Ramos to end the inning before proceeding to set down the next six hitters in order.

For the second straight game, Max Muncy had to be removed from the game, as he took a fastball to the head from Matt Gage. He was able to finish the top of the sixth inning but was replaced by Kiké Hernández defensively in the bottom of the sixth.

The Dodgers added four more runs after their explosive fifth inning, bringing their total to 13 on the night, the most amount of runs they have scored in the second half. Both Michael Kopech and even Tanner Scott had scoreless innings, as the Dodgers allowed zero hits after the fifth inning.

With the Giants losing, they now fall a half game back of the New York Mets for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. The Dodgers’ division lead remains at two and a half games with the San Diego Padres defeating the Colorado Rockies.

The Dodgers wrap things up against the Giants on Sunday (1:05 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA) before heading back home to open a three game series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Tyler Glasnow gets the start for the Dodgers and faces lefty Robbie Ray.

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