SAN FRANCISCO — Major League Baseball has instituted a series of new rules designed to put more action into the game.
But the Dodgers are doing their best to take some of it out.
The leaders in baseball with 72 walks in their first 13 games this season, the Dodgers used four in a row – including one on a pitch-clock violation and another to end a 15-pitch at-bat by Freddie Freeman with the bases loaded – to spark a sixth-inning rally and come from behind to beat the San Francisco Giants, 10-5, on Wednesday night.
“I think Freddie’s at-bat was maybe the catalyst for everything,” Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw said. “Just the way guys got fired up for that, the way Freddie grinded through that at-bat, got that walk, gave us the lead and then just from there, the floodgates opened.
“I mean, it’s amazing how one at-bat can change the outlook of a game but that definitely did it tonight.”
Kershaw was even willing to hint that Freeman’s at-bat could provide “a season shift.” Before his walk, the score was tied and the Dodgers were in danger of losing a second consecutive series, five games in their past six and dropping under .500 for the season.
“That one at-bat can do a lot,” Kershaw said. “Just the way he grinded, the way he fouled off pitch after pitch, after fastball, after curveball. It was just really impressive and you can kind of feel our guys feed off that, the energy in the crowd, our dugout, everything was just heightened. And I think after that we just kind of stepped on their throat a little bit which was good to see.”
Two batters after Freeman’s walk, Max Muncy landed the knockout blow – a three-run home run off John Brebbia, the only hit of the five-run inning.
It was Muncy’s second home run of the game, his fourth of the series and the 25th of his career against the Giants (11 at Oracle Park). Twenty-one of those have come since the start of the 2020 season. According to MLB statistician Sarah Langs, only one player has tormented one team more than Muncy has done to the Giants in that time – Aaron Judge has 22 home runs against the Baltimore Orioles since 2020.
“As soon as Freddie won that at-bat, we all knew that we were going to take off right there,” Muncy said. “That was such a huge at-bat. Even before that, those three guys that got on base, taking pitches. Those were good at-bats as well. Just that whole inning a lot of guys put together good at-bats, strung it together and made it tough for them and we capitalized on it.”
The Dodgers had to dig out of a 3-0 hole after an awkward start by Kershaw.
He came into the game with a career ERA of 1.60 at Oracle Park. But he gave up two bloop singles to start the first inning, wound up on the ground after trying to cover first base on one play and again when he scrambled to make a play behind the mound. A bad slider to Darin Ruf resulted in a double and a 2-0 Giants lead.
The second inning was only slightly better for Kershaw. Joey Bart beat out an infield single and was safe at second when Heliot Ramos’ ground ball narrowly missed first Kershaw and then the second-base bag, causing Miguel Vargas to misplay it for an error.
With the inning extended, Wilmer Flores dumped an RBI single into right field for a 3-0 Giants lead.
“I told Mark (Prior), I was being a little soft today. I don’t know what was going on,” Kershaw said. “I was thinking, I wasn’t competing well, and so I kind of just flipped the switch and kind of got mad at myself there at the end. … Just stop thinking and not worrying about how to pitch and just go pitch.”
The Dodgers began chipping away at the Giants’ lead with two runs in the fourth inning – and it could have been more.
J.D. Martinez led off the inning with a triple and scored on an RBI single by James Outman. Two-out singles by David Peralta and Miguel Rojas set up an RBI double by Mookie Betts. But Rojas left the game after his hit with cramping in his left hamstring.
That brought up Freeman with a chance to tie the score. He drove a ball to the wall in straightaway center field but Giants outfielder Bryce Johnson made a spectacular catch, crashing into the wall to rob Freeman of extra-base hits. Johnson took a long time to leave the field and came out of the game with a possible concussion.
Muncy tied it with a solo home run an inning later instead and the sixth inning began with Trayce Thompson drawing a five-pitch walk. Chris Taylor took his base when Rogers was called for a pitch-clock violation for ball four. Betts loaded the bases with another five-pitch walk, bringing Freeman to the plate.
He got ahead 2-and-0 before the count went full and he went to work.
“When I got to two strikes, all I was doing was trying to move it forward,” Freeman said. “Even if I ground into a double play, we had to take the lead there. That’s all I was really trying to do. I was trying to guard against back-door sinkers, front-door sliders. Two strikes, it’s hard to just let loose. So I was just trying to battle, just trying to push the ball forward. It kept going backwards.
“I could not strike out in that situation. Just in case Will (Smith) rolls into a double play and we don’t score any runs. So that’s all I was trying to do. I think I had a few pitches that I should have probably moved forward, but I didn’t. But there was no frustration. After I walked, everyone was pretty fired up. So it was kind of cool.”
TIE IT UP, MAX! pic.twitter.com/R3apqB1p0D
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 13, 2023
MAX. MUNCY. AGAIN. pic.twitter.com/Tf4yf135Cp
— MLB (@MLB) April 13, 2023
NO DOUBT about that one! Trayce Thompson crushes a 2-run shot to make it a 10-3 ballgame! pic.twitter.com/BxgtMM5Rne
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) April 13, 2023
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