Cody Bellinger’s grand slam guides Dodgers to 6-5 win

A Cody Bellinger grand slam and dominant start from Hyun-Jin Ryu appeared to be enough as the Dodgers held a four-run lead entering the ninth. After putting three runs across the board, the tying run stood 90 feet away. Kenley Jansen got Pablo Sandoval to ground into a double play, ending the game and giving LA the close 6-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

The offense

The Dodgers scored five of their six runs in the third inning, largely due to Bellinger’s bat. Russell Martin reached on an error, and then Hyun-Jin Ryu followed by walking on four pitches. With two on and no out, Enrique Hernandez singled, giving LA a 1-0 lead.

After A.J. Pollock singled, Bellinger stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded. He turned on an 86 mph cutter and sent it over the center field fence, giving the Dodgers a 5-0 lead.

For Bellinger, it’s his fifth home run of the season. To put into perspective how hot he’s been at the plate, it took him 39 games to reach that number last season.

Bellinger wasn’t the only Dodger to have a successful night at the plate. A.J. Pollock continued his impressive start in Dodger blue, tacking on another two hits to put his average at .360 on the year.

Hernandez, who has a .500 career average against Madison Bumgarner, had two hits on the evening as well. He also had multiple highlight reels on the defensive side too.

The pitching

For the second consecutive game, the Dodgers got an incredible outing from their starter. Making his second start of the year, Ryu gave the Dodgers seven innings, the most from a Dodgers starter this season.

In his seven innings of work, he struck out five and allowed only two runs, both of which came courtesy of a Bumgarner home run.

He started off the game practically un-hittable, getting 15 of the first 16 batters he faced out. The sixth was a struggle for him, allowing four consecutive hits to cut the Dodgers’ lead to only three. With runners on first and second and only one out, Ryu struck out Evan Longoria and got Buster Posey to ground out, escaping the sixth without any further damage.

Caleb Ferguson had another scoreless outing, striking out two in his lone inning of work. Yimi Garcia came into the ninth with a four-run cushion, but made it through only two batters before being removed. After a double and a walk put two on, Kenley Jansen came in to close things out.

It looked as if the bullpen would blow yet another game, as an error, walk and single would cut the Dodgers’ lead to only one. With runners at the corners and one out, Sandoval came in to pinch hit. He grounded to shortstop, where Corey Seager and Hernandez turned the close double play, giving the Dodgers the one-run victory.

Tuesday particulars

WP: Hyun-Jin Ryu (2-0) 7 IP, 5 SO, 2 ER

LP: Madison Bumgarner (0-2) 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 R, 4 SO

SV: Kenley Jansen (2) 1 IP, 1 R, 1 SO

Up next

The Dodgers will look for their second consecutive series win tomorrow as Ross Stripling (0-0, 0.00 ERA) takes the mound against Derek Holland (0-1, 6.75 ERA). First pitch is at 7:10 pm on SportsNet LA.