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LOS ANGELES—— The Dodgers are now getting into the habit of having short outings by their starting pitchers. This is either by design or in tonight’s case, another ineffective start by Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw had his shortest outing of the year and it was a struggle for him all night.
The Giants won 5-4 as Will Smith the pitcher got Will Smith the catcher to swing at ball four to end the ninth inning rally.
A.J. Pollock made it a one-run game with his third home run of the night. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, all of those home runs were solo shots.
The Giants trailed 1-0 when they tied the game with their own solo home run from Mauricio Dubon in the fourth inning.
Kershaw had managed to avoid a big crooked number in the first three innings but in the fifth, he was unable to record an out. After a single from Austin Slater, Kevin Pillar worked a walk after a long at-bat. That chased Kershaw, who had made 99 pitches.
Dylan Floro came in and after getting a ground out and then an intentional walk to Buster Posey, he gave up a pinch two-run double to Mike Yastrzemski. After a second intentional walk, Dubon got a ground single to score two more runs.
Kershaw would have his second poor outing in a row, he pitched four plus innings and gave up three runs and seven hits. Kershaw struck out six and walked three.
The Dodgers slowly tried to get back in the game when Pollock hit his second home run to make it 5-2.
Then it the sixth inning, Joc Pederson doubled and with two out, Cody Bellinger singled off Dubon’s glove to cut the lead to two runs.
Jeff Samardzija finished with six innings pitched, he gave up three runs and five hits. He also struck out three.
The Dodgers did get nice relief work from Yimi Garcia, Adam Kolarek, Casey Sadler and Josh Sborz who combined to pitch four scoreless innings.
Friday particulars
Home runs: A.J. Pollock 3 (13), Mauricio Dubon (2)
WP: Jeff Samardzija (10-11), 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 SO
LP: Clayton Kershaw (13-5), 4 IP, 7 H, 3 R,3 BB, 6 SO
Sv: Will Smith (32), 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
Up next
The Dodgers will have right-handed pitcher Tony Gonsolin pitch the second game of the series for the Dodgers. The Giants will counter with right-hander Tyler Beede. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. PT.