True Blue LA - September 23: Dodgers 4, Giants 2Where The Dodger Dogs Are Always Grilledhttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49563/truebluela_fav.png2014-09-23T22:11:10-07:00http://www.truebluela.com/rss/stream/66001462014-09-23T22:11:10-07:002014-09-23T22:11:10-07:00Dodgers need just one more win<h3 class="link-title"><a rel="nofollow" href="/rss/stream/6600146">Dodgers need just one more&nbsp;win</a></h3>
<div class="description"><p><p>The Dodgers lead the Giants by 4.5 games with 4.5 games (Dodgers have four, Giants have five) left to play. One more win and the division goes to the Dodgers.</p></p></div>
https://www.truebluela.com/2014/9/23/6837565/dodgers-need-just-one-more-winEric Stephen2014-09-23T22:07:32-07:002014-09-23T22:07:32-07:00Turner, Kemp, Greinke push Dodgers to brink
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<figcaption>Stephen Dunn</figcaption>
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<p><span>Justin Turner</span> had <span>Madison Bumgarner</span>'s number with a pair of home runs, and <span>Zack Greinke</span> pitched eight strong innings to lead the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a>' 4-2 win over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/">Giants</a> on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<p>The win restored the Dodgers' lead in the National League West to 4½ games, and reduced the club's magic number to just one, meaning the Dodgers could clinch the division as early as Wednesday night.</p>
<p>After insane bullpen usage of late, culminating in Monday's 13-inning contest, the Dodgers needed a long outing from Greinke, and that's just what they got.</p>
<p>Greinke matched his season high with eight innings, the fifth time he has done so this year. He allowed two runs on six hits while striking out five and walking none, throwing a season-high 118 pitches in the process.</p>
<p>The first inning had it all for the Dodgers. Turner began the frame with a home run to left, continuing his magical season and giving the Dodgers a 1-0 lead.</p>
<p>Then, Bumgarner hit <span>Yasiel Puig</span> on the foot with a pitch. Puig, who was also hit by a pitch on Monday night, was not happy with Bumgarner, and Bumgarner was none too happy with Puig - <a target="_blank" href="http://www.truebluela.com/2014/5/9/5702346/yasiel-puig-home-run-dodgers-giants-loss">they have a history</a> - so for a brief moment benches emptied. It didn't signify much though other than to draw a warning to both sides from the umpiring crew and build the crowd up into a frenzy.</p>
<p>The frenzy reached a crescendo when, two batters later, <span>Matt Kemp</span> - on his 30th birthday - took Bumgarner deep to dead center field to score Puig and put the Dodgers up 3-0.</p>
<p>It was just the fourth time all season Bumgarner allowed two home runs in the same <i>start</i>, and only the second time he did so in the first inning, having also allowed two home runs <a target="_blank" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CHN/CHN201408210.shtml">to the Cubs in the first inning on August 21</a>. Bumgarner allowed two more singles and needed 36 pitches to get out of the first inning on Tuesday, pushing his opening-frame ERA to 5.73 on the season.</p>
<p>In all other innings, Bumgarner's ERA is 2.49 and he showed why on Tuesday. After the first inning, Bumgarner allowed only one hit until the eighth inning, when Turner went deep again in the eighth to knock Bumgarner out of the game.</p>
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<h5>Magic number</h5>
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<td><u><b>Team</b></u></td>
<td align="center"><u><b>W-L</b></u></td>
<td align="center"><u><b>GB</b></u></td>
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<td>Los Angeles</td>
<td align="center">90-68</td>
<td align="center">---</td>
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<td>San Francisco <br>
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<td align="center">85-72</td>
<td align="center">4½</td>
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<span>Photo: <a target="new" href="http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/assets/5044746/pee-wee-reese-gil-hodges-dodgers-1-getty.jpg">Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Bumgarner was the Giants' offense as well, hitting a two-run home run in the third inning for the only runs against Greinke. It was the fourth home run and 15th RBI on the season for Bumgarner, who will almost certainly wrestle the Silver Slugger Award from 2013 winner Greinke.</p>
<p>That confidence in Bumgarner's bat also convinced Giants manager Bruce Bochy to let him hit in the top of the eighth inning, at 108 pitches through seven innings. Bumgarner struck out, then gave up a home run to Turner, his second batter faced in the bottom of the inning, ending his evening.</p>
<p>Greinke with his five strikeouts reached 201 on the season, joining <span>Clayton Kershaw</span> (228 strikeouts) as only the second Dodgers teammates since 1970 with 200 strikeouts in a season. The others were <span>Chan Ho Park</span> (217) and Kevin Brown (216) in 2000.</p>
<p><span>Kenley Jansen</span>, after throwing 23 pitches on Sunday and 21 pitches on Monday night, threw just 11 pitches in the ninth inning on Tuesday to record his 44th save of the season.</p>
<h5>Up next</h5>
<p>Clayton Kershaw. Champagne.</p>
<h5>Tuesday particulars</h5>
<p><b>Home runs</b>: Justin Turner 2 (7), Matt Kemp (24); Madison Bumgarner (4)</p>
<p><b>WP - Zack Greinke (16-8)</b>: 8 IP, 6 hits, 2 runs, 5 strikeouts</p>
<p><b>LP - Madison Bumgarner (18-10)</b>: 7⅓ IP, 6 hits, 4 runs, 5 strikeouts</p>
<p><b>Sv - Kenley Jansen (44)</b>: 1 IP, 1 hit</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2014/9/23/6837173/justin-turner-zack-greinke-dodgers-giants-recapEric Stephen2014-09-23T14:11:11-07:002014-09-23T14:11:11-07:00Greinke, Bumgarner face off on mound, at plate
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<figcaption>Thearon W. Henderson</figcaption>
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<p>The middle game of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.truebluela.com/">Dodgers</a>-<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/">Giants</a> series could bring more offense to the table, which on the surface sounds counter-intuitive with <span>Zack Greinke</span> and <span>Madison Bumgarner</span> on the mound.</p>
<p>In the last 63 years, the only Dodgers pitcher to beat the Giants five times in one season was <span>Clayton Kershaw</span>, who did so in 2011. In four starts so far this season against San Francisco, Greinke is 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA, with 31 strikeouts and four walks.</p>
<p>Bumgarner is 3-1 with a 1.75 ERA against the Dodgers this season, and is 7-2 with a 1.87 ERA in nine career starts at Dodger Stadium.</p>
<p>Greinke (127) <a target="_blank" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/2014-standard-pitching.shtml#players_standard_pitching::26">ranks 10th in the NL in ERA+</a> while Bumgarner (119) ranks 13th. Using xFIP- (which goes in the other direction; the lower number the better), Greinke (74) is <a target="_blank" href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=nl&qual=y&type=1&season=2014&month=0&season1=2014&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=16,a">third in the NL</a> with Bumgarner (80) fourth. If <a target="_blank" href="http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=pit&lg=nl&qual=y&type=1&season=2014&month=0&season1=2014&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=21,a">you prefer SIERA</a>, they rank third (Greinke, 2.88) and fourth (Bumgarner, 2.97) there as well.</p>
<p>While those two will surely make it tough on opposing hitters, the increased offense we will see is likely to come when they are at the plate.</p>
<blockquote align="center" class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck">
<p>Via ask from <a href="https://twitter.com/StrandThatRISP">@StrandThatRISP</a> Which pitchers hit the ball hard most often this season? <a href="http://t.co/FrikQMCP93">pic.twitter.com/FrikQMCP93</a></p>
— Mark Simon (@msimonespn) <a href="https://twitter.com/msimonespn/status/514416736305561601">September 23, 2014</a>
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<script src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<p>Greinke won the National League Silver Slugger Award in 2013 as the best hitting pitcher. He hit .328/.409/.379 with four RBI and seven walks. He hasn't done quite as well this season, hitting .196/.262/.339 with five doubles, a home run and five walks.</p>
<p>Greinke's .602 OPS <a target="_blank" href="http://bbref.com/pi/shareit/omoAS">ranks third among pitchers with at least 20 plate appearances this season</a>. Both Travis Wood and Bumgarner have a .723 OPS.</p>
<p>Bumgarner was a career .138/.185/.192 hitter with two career home runs in 265 plate appearances before this season, but this season he has been a force at the plate. Bumgarner, who pitches left-handed but hits right-handed, has three home runs and 13 RBI.</p>
<p>He has two grand slams this season, and his 13 RBI are the most by a pitcher since <span>Daniel Hudson</span> drove in 14 runs in 2011.</p>
<p>Bumgarner has been worth 1.1 Wins Above Replacement in batting alone, using <a target="_blank" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/2014-value-batting.shtml">the Baseball-Reference version</a>, while Greinke is at 0.7 WAR.</p>
<p>Bumgarner this season is 2-for-9 (.222) against the Dodgers with a run scored. Greinke is 4-for-9 (.444) with a pair of walks against the Giants this season, including a home run and a double in the Dodgers' 17-0 win in San Francisco on Sep. 13.</p>
<p>So maybe there will be more offense on Tuesday night, after all.</p>
<h4>Game info</h4>
<h4></h4>
<p>Time: 7:10 p.m. PT</p>
<p>TV: SportsNet LA, KDOC, ESPN</p>
https://www.truebluela.com/2014/9/23/6835243/zack-greinke-madison-bumgarner-dodgers-giants-offenseEric Stephen