The Dodgers won 10-2 in the series opener against the Giants in San Francisco on Friday, with another strong start from Hyun-Jin Ryu and an outrageous performance from Juan Uribe.
Ryu gave up two earned runs on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts in 6.2 innings on the way to his seventh win of the season, lowering his ERA to 2.82.
Walks were to blame for the first run he allowed. In the first inning he gave up a single and two walks, allowing a run to score on a groundout force play from Hunter Pence. He walked another batter in the second but was bailed out on a double play.
For the next three innings Ryu sat down the Giants in order. Nobody reached base until Brandon Belt’s double to lead off the seventh inning. After retiring the next two batters Ryu was pulled at 107 pitches, with the runner on second.
Jose Dominguez came in for relief, but allowed the inherited runner to score on a Tony Abreu single. Dominguez finished the seventh with a strikeout, and pitched a scoreless eighth, despite giving two singles.
The Dodgers bats on the other hand were clicking all night once again, with ten runs on thirteen hits. Friday was their fifth consecutive nights of ten hits or more.
Juan Uribe had a monstrous night, going 3-5 with seven RBI and two runs scored. He had a two-RBI double, three-RBI triple, and a two-RBI home run. It was his first triple in his three seasons with the Dodgers.
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It is amazing to compare 2013 to his previous two years with the Dodgers. He was a negative WAR player and had fans hoping for him to get DFA’d in 2012, and now he is actually a serviceable third baseman rounding out the bottom of a very productive batting order.
Hanley Ramirez, A.J. Ellis, and Hyun-Jin Ryu also contributed with RBI singles. Ramirez is now on a career-long 16-game hitting streak.
Friday marked the return of Carl Crawford from the Disabled List, but he was out of the starting lineup, presumably so he could be brought along gingerly. Of course, the Dodgers can never stay at full health, as Matt Kemp felt irritation in his shoulder after a swing in the second inning.
Kemp sat from the third inning on, forcing Crawford to play in left field. Crawford went 0-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Saturday they send Stephen Fife to face Madison Bumgarner for the second game of the series. The Dodgers have now won 11 of their last 13 games, are three games under .500 and tied for second and 3.5 games back in the NL West.
