Three in a row

SF 5  LA 4

Kevin Gausman was brilliant again and shut down the Dodgers for six innings, yielding only two hits. The bullpen made a mess of things, giving up not one but two two-run homers in the last two frames, but it wasn’t quite enough to spoil the party. And it was quite the party early against ultra-nemesis Clayton Kershaw. I often say that Kershaw is “the greatest pitcher in San Francisco Giants history” and if you look at his career stats against our beloved ballclub you might agree. Warning: not safe for children. Today was his 50th career start and the Giants jumped on him for five runs in the first four innings. The big blow was a two-out, two-run homer in the 1st from Mauricio Dubon. That’s right, Mauricio Dubon. It was his second career blast against the super southpaw, his first was this game in 2019. He now has one more than Kelby Tomlinson! Austin Slater hit an opposite-field homer in the 3rd, his third career shot which ties him with Buster Posey. The other slugger against Kershaw? MadBum, with two.

Gausman threw only 72 pitches, 62 of them for strikes. He was absolutely dominant and he also drove in a run in the 4th with a two-out hit. He tweaked his hip making a play on a ground ball and that ended his day. Let’s hope the injury is minor. The Giants had a chance to blow the game open, loading the bases with no outs against Joe Kelly in the 7th but failed to score. It was one of those moments you knew would come back to bite them, and it almost did. The best you can say about the Giants bullpen is “work in progress.” This afternoon both Zack Littell and Jake McGee were victimized by Dodgers sluggers when they left fat pitches out in the middle of the zone. The relievers really need to execute better.

Here’s the bottom line: THE GIANTS BEAT THE DODGERS THREE STRAIGHT IN LA!!!

That’s awesome.

The Giants come home and play a two-game series against the Angels followed by a day off. Then the Cubs come to town for four. Tomorrow–Memorial Day–Johnny Cueto gets the ball at 1:05 Pacific.

Go Giants!

–M.C.