Dodgers sweep in the second half with 7-4 win over the Giants

The Dodgers have started their second-half with strong performances and timely hitting as they completed their first four-game sweep of the Giants at Dodger Stadium since June 1995. Another late rally gave the Dodgers a 7-4 win and put them a season-high 34 games over .500 and sent the third-place Giants to Arizona 16½ games behind the Dodgers.

The Dodger bullpen did the job today, with five relievers getting the final 14 outs with nary a man on base. Evan Phillips was the one who got the win and Craig Kimbrel recording the save.

Manager Dave Roberts gave Will Smith the day off and with Justin Turner still on the mend, he put out a lineup that had Jake Lamb, Gavin Lux, Max Muncy and Trayce Thompson following the familiar top three. And it was those four who provided the key hits today for the win.

With the game tied 4-4 in the seventh inning, the Dodgers made another rally to take the lead.

After Trea Turner’s fly out took Yermín Mercedes the left-field wall for the out, Freddie Freeman inside-outed a fly ball down to the left-field corner. Mercedes took a bad route and it fell for a double.

Tyler Rogers was brought in and the side-winder was greeted with Lamb’s ground-rule double that scored Freeman and broke the tie. Lux singled home Lamb to give the Dodgers a two-run lead. Max Muncy grounded into a force out but then Trayce Thompson doubled home Muncy to make it 7-4.

That was enough to give the Dodgers their fifth four-game series sweep and their first eight-game winning streak this season.

The Dodgers scored first when Mookie Betts, Turner and Freeman each singled to start the game. Freeman’s single scored Betts for the early 1-0 lead. The scoring stopped there as Alex Cobb was able to get out of the inning with minimum damage.

Kershaw gave up two runs in the third inning when after two outs, Darin Ruf drew a walk and Mercedes doubled to put two in scoring position. Thairo Estradra produced a single to give the Giants the lead.

The Dodgers then had their turn with two outs, Lamb lined a double to the right-center wall. Lux tied up the game with a single. Max Muncy shot a two-strike double to right to retake the lead and then Trayce Thompson got the fourth straight two-out hit to score Muncy.

Clayton Kershaw could not get going in this game. After the first two hitters of the game, Kershaw struggled at times to put away hitters. The Dodgers staked him to 1-0 and 4-2 leads and Kershaw was unable to settle into a groove.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Kershaw gave up a double to Wilmer Flores and Ruf followed with a game-tying home run. Manager Dave Roberts brought in Yency Almonte who proceeded to strike out both Mercedes and Estrada to end the fifth.

Kershaw would end up pitching 4⅓ innings and give up four runs and five hits. Kershaw walked two and struck out six. This was his shortest start at Dodger Stadium this year, Kershaw’s shortest outings, each four innings, happened at Coors Field and Oracle Park.

Alex Cobb was able to recover well, pitching six innings to join Kershaw with a no-decision in his first game against the Dodgers. In his six innings, he gave up four runs and eight hits. Like Kershaw, Cobb struck out six and walked two.

Phil Bickford and Evan Phillips followed Almonte’s strong pitching with scoreless appearances in the sixth and seventh.

Alex Vesia retired the side in order in the eighth and then Craig Kimbrel making his third appearance in the four-game series. Kimbrel would give up a two-out single to Joey Bart but he got the final out on a liner to Freeman.

Sunday particulars

Home run: Darin Ruf (11)

WP — Evan Phillips (5-3): 1 IP, 1 hit, 2 strikeouts

LP — Dominic Leone (3-3): ⅔ IP, 1 run, 1 hit

Sv — Craig Kimbrel (17): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 strikeout

Up next

The Dodgers continue their home stand with a three-game series against Juan Soto and the Washington Nationals. Right-handed pitchers Tony Gonsolin and Paola Espino will respectively start for their teams. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. PDT and it will be aired on SportsNet LA.