Bumgarner Shuts Out Dodgers To Put Giants Back On Top Of NL West
LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) -- Madison Bumgarner scattered four hits over eight scoreless innings, Pablo Sandoval drove in both runs and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 on Monday night to regain the NL West lead by a half-game.
Bumgarner pitched his second scoreless outing of the season for the Giants, who have won six of their last nine games and 11 of 17. They erased the Dodgers' half-game lead in a division race that has seen the rivals frequently swap leads.
Bumgarner (14-7) struck out 10 and walked none to even his road record at 6-6.
Javier Lopez got the final out in the ninth to earn his second save in four chances after Hanley Ramirez homered with two out in the inning against Sergio Romo, preventing what would have been the Giants' fourth shutout of the season against the Dodgers.
The loss spoiled a solid outing by Clayton Kershaw (11-7), who gave up two runs and six hits in eight innings. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner struck out 10 and walked none as his four-game winning streak ended. The left-hander helped his own cause with two singles and a backhanded diving catch of Gregor Blanco's pop-up bunt in foul territory near the first base line in the third.
"Your always in for a battle with those guys. You have to tip your hat off to Bumbgarner, he pitched awesome," Kershaw said after the game. "Anytime you play the Giants it's a big game. Especially right now, where we're at the middle of a playoff race. Every game is big at this point. Losing sucks no matter what and today, it didn't feel any better."
But he got little run support, with Matt Kemp hitless in four at-bats with a strikeout and Andre Ethier going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. He reached on a fielding error by Sandoval in the seventh.
Sandoval's sacrifice fly in the first inning scored the Giants' first run. His two-out single to short left field in the sixth scored Angel Pagan, who beat A.J. Ellis' tag to make it 2-0. Buster Posey went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and manager Bruce Bochy said before the game that the catcher might either start at first base on Tuesday or get the day off.
Notes: The Giants have won 12 of their last 17 road games since the All-Star break. ... Dodgers manager Don Mattingly returned from serving a two-game suspension for arguing with umpires last Thursday in Pittsburgh. ... Kershaw went at least eight innings in consecutive starts for the first time this season. ... Bumgarner improved to 3-1 in five career starts at Dodger Stadium. ... Bumgarner's other scoreless outing was a one-hitter against Cincinnati on June 28, which he won 5-0. ... Three-time Olympic beach volleyball gold medalist Misty May-Treanor received a standing ovation when she was introduced between innings. Her husband, Dodgers catcher Matt Treanor, got congratulatory pats on the back from his teammates in the dugout.
