Simulating Dodgers vs. Giants, Game 3 + Kershaw update

This is the third installment of an ongoing series, where my dad and I will simulate each game on the Dodgers schedule until real Dodger baseball returns. Read Part 1 here and Part 2 here! Thanks all for the comments and support!

Hello again! After two wins to open the season that were a little too close for comfort, we set our sights to Game 3 and David Price’s Dodger debut, as we hope for a season-opening sweep of the Giants.

As a reminder, some things we’re keeping an eye on in today’s game:

Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger are a combined 0-17 with six strikeouts. Will either of them get on base this series?

The Giants will have a righty pitching in Game 3 (Jeff Samardzjia), but we’re considering starting A.J. Pollock or Chris Taylor in left and giving Joc Pederson a day off. What do you think?

David Price will pitch the final game of the series for us, and we need him to go relatively deep in the game. Treinen and Jansen both pitched in each of the first two games of the series, and we will be restricting ourselves to Scott Alexander, Pedro Baez, Caleb Ferguson, Dylan Floro and Joe Kelly out of the bullpen.

First off, we ran a poll to answer the outfield question. The TBLA community responded resoundingly — keep Joc in left field for now. In fact, subbing in A.J. Pollock was nearly as popular with this group as benching Mookie Betts or Cody Bellinger. Make of that what you will.

On to Game 3! Watch it here or scroll below to find out what happened. If you want to be notified when we go live with future simulations, follow me on Twitch!

After a pair of low-scoring games to start the series, the new Dodger Price had quite a difficult first inning. He gave up a single to Billy Hamilton on the very first pitch, but managed to strike out both Buster Posey and Austin Slater. The Giants pulled together a two-out rally, however — Wilmer Flores singled Hamilton to third on a 3-2 count, and Mike Yastrzemski doubled both runners home, giving the Giants an early 2-0 lead.

However, there’s no reason to panic, Dodger fans — there’s a reason the lineup is so fearsome. While Mookie Betts predictably continued his hitless streak with a flyout to left, Max Muncy and Cody Bellinger both delivered solo home runs in the bottom of the first (Bellinger’s first hit of the season), tying the game at 2-2.

Price settled into a groove from that point, throwing six scoreless innings after the rocky first. He finished the game with seven innings pitched, 11 strikeouts, seven hits allowed, one walk and the two earned runs.

The Dodgers took the lead for him in the bottom of the third with yet another home run, as Justin Turner skied a two-run shot, scoring Betts (who hit a single through the left side earlier in the inning for his first base hit of the season) and taking a 4-2 Dodger lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Bellinger hit his second solo home run of the game, extending the lead to 5-2. In the bottom of the eighth, he hit his third homer of the game, more than making up for his hitless start to the series by opening up a 7-2 Dodger lead, the eventual final score in this sweep-clinching win.

With Price going seven innings, we were able to mostly rest the bullpen after two games with a lot of action. Pedro Baez pitched a 1-2-3 eighth for his second hold of the season, while Joe Kelly pitched a scoreless ninth to finish out the game and secure the victory.

Here’s the box score:

With Bellinger’s bat finally unlocked and a sweep of the Giants in the books, we were all ready to celebrate until this message popped up on our screen:

Yep. Kershaw’s out for two months with elbow inflammation. Sigh.

So it’s time for another poll. We know we’re bumping Alex Wood into the starting rotation, but who will replace Clayton on the 26-man roster?

Here are our options:

Brusdar Graterol, one of our top prospects. We sent him down to AAA at the start of the season for service time reasons, but this could be his opportunity.

Zach McAllister, a 32-year-old veteran most known for his time with Cleveland.

Edubray Ramos, who spent the last four seasons with the Phillies.

Or Adam Kolarek, who we sent down for Scott Alexander at the start of the season.

Tell us what you think!