Dodgers fall to Madison Bumgarner in another close one with Giants

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers had little answer for Madison Bumgarner, who held them at bay into the eighth inning in a 2-1 Giants win on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, snapping a two-game winning streak for Los Angeles.

One night after clinching their fifth National League West title, the Dodgers had regulars Justin Turner and Cody Bellinger out of the lineup, and could only muster five hits against Bumgarner.

Kyle Farmer, who was in the lineup at first base in his first major league start, was 1-for-3.

The Dodgers didn’t score until the eighth inning, when Austin Barnes hit a solo home run to pull within a run. Charlie Culberson followed with a double, but was ultimately stranded on third.

Bellinger pinch hit against Bumgarner in the eighth inning and though his drive down the right field line had Dodger Stadium abuzz, the ball fell harmlessly into the glove of Hunter Pence on the warning track. Chris Taylor followed with an even deeper ball to the right field wall, but Pence caught that too, ending the threat.

The Giants right-hander this season has allowed just one run in 14⅔ innings over two starts against the Dodgers, both at Dodger Stadium. He struck out five on Saturday night.

One of the hits was a pinch-hit single by O`Koyea Dickson in the third inning, his first major league hit. It was Dickson’s first appearance in 13 days.

The San Francisco offense followed a simple, but effective formula. Gorkys Hernandez had three hits, including two doubles, and was driven home twice by a pair of two-out singles — by Buster Posey in the first inning, and Denard Span in the fifth.

Hyun-jin Ryu allowed the first of those runs and got hung with the loss. But he also suffered a left forearm contusion after getting hit by a line drive from Joe Panik in the third inning and exited his start much earlier than planned.

Ryu during the game was taken for X-rays, which were negative.

The Dodgers bullpen allowed just one run in 6⅔ innings in relief of Ryu, including three innings from Brandon McCarthy in just his third relief appearance in the last 11 years, and a scoreless inning from Walker Buehler, who escaped his own bases-loaded, no-out jam in the eighth.

Eight of the 18 meetings between the Dodgers and Giants in 2017 have been decided by one run, plus two more games that went into extra-innings.

Saturday particulars

Home run: Austin Barnes (7)

WP - Madison Bumgarner (4-9): 7⅔ IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts

LP - Hyun-jin Ryu (5-8): 2⅓ IP, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 strikeout

Sv - Sam Dyson (14): 1 IP, 1 hit