Trevor Bauer swaggered off the mound to boos in the Dodgers’ 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night and didn’t ignore them. He cupped his ear to the Oracle Park crowd, urging the fans to raise the volume. He raised his arms. He absorbed the disgust. He was in hostile territory, 61/3 innings into his first taste of the oldest baseball rivalry in the West, and he ended a 126-pitch appearance by completing his heel turn in a way that would’ve made Tommy Lasorda crack a smile from ear to ear.
“They’re going to hate me anyway,” Bauer said. “Might as well lean into it.”
Bauer brashly exited the game with a one-run lead, having yielded an unearned run on his own throwing error and lost command at the end, before Nate Jones and Blake Treinen combined to close out the Dodgers’ ninth win in 10 games to open a three-game series between the rivals.
Chris Taylor supplied all the offense for the Dodgers (27-18) with a two-run homer to straightaway center off former Dodger Alex Wood in the third inning. Wood was otherwise effective. The left-hander surrendered the two runs on eight hits, lowering his earned-run average to 1.93 in seven starts this season.
Bauer was better if less efficient. His 126 pitches were a season high and one short of his career high. He gave up two hits — an infield single against the shift from Alex Dickerson and a bloop double from Brandon Belt that had an expected batting average of .010. He recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts.
But he issued four walks and his throwing error with two outs in the sixth inning led to the Giants’ only run, ultimately forcing him to throw an extra six pitches to secure the final out when the Dodgers needed him to cover as many innings as possible.
Highlights from the Dodgers’ 2-1 win over the San Francisco Giants on Friday.
The Dodgers purposely orchestrated a bullpen game Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, pushing Bauer back to Friday to counter the first-place Giants (28-17) on extra rest. The Dodgers used seven relievers in Thursday’s win. That left them with three available relievers Friday. They added a fourth before the game when Jones, a veteran right-hander signed to a minor-league contract last week, was called up.
The decision to opt for a bullpen game ahead of Bauer was calculated. The Dodgers trust him to pitch deep into games. He relishes the challenge. He requests it. And on Friday they needed him to pitch deep into the game.
Which is why a bad break in the fourth inning could’ve been so costly.
The pitch, a 96-mph fastball, caught a sliver of the virtual strike zone visible only to people watching on television, but Bauer knew it was a strike from the mound so he swaggered off of it believing the inning was over.
Dodgers left fielder Chris Taylor celebrates with third base coach Dino Ebel after hitting a two-run home run in the third inning Friday.
(D. Ross Cameron / Associated Press)
Plate umpire Chris Guccione disagreed. He called it ball one. Bauer glared at Guccione in disbelief and verbally expressed his disapproval before returning to the mound to finish the job.
“I don’t think you can execute a better pitch than that,” Bauer said. “I know it was a strike, Will [Smith, catcher] knew it was a strike. I think everybody but the home-plate umpire knew it was a strike.”
It took another 10 pitches, after losing control and walking Evan Longoria, before he finally secured the third out with a strikeout of Dickerson.
Those pitches might’ve cost Bauer the opportunity to complete seven innings. But it didn’t cost the Dodgers a win. Jones relieved him and registered two strikeouts in 12/3 innings in his Dodgers debut. Treinen followed with a 1-2-3 ninth inning and the Dodgers won again behind their villain.
“Fans wanted to boo me,” Bauer said, “so I wanted them to turn the volume up.”
Short hops
Outfielder Luke Raley was optioned to make room on the active roster for Jones. Infielder Travis Blankenhorn was designated for assignment to create a spot on the 40-man roster. …Cody Bellinger (fibula) and Zach McKinstry (oblique) began rehab assignments Friday with triple-A Oklahoma City and played five innings in the field. Bellinger started in center field. He went 1 for 4 with an RBI single and hit a flyball to the wall in his first at-bat. Mc-
Kinstry started in left field. He went 0 for 2 with two walks and two runs scored.
