All great works of art come in threes. Whether it's literature, film, or video games, the trilogy is one of the most dramatic events in popular culture. On Thursday, it occurred on the mound as the battle of reigning MVPs wrote it's third chapter.
For the third time this season baseball fans were blessed with reigning NL CY Young/MVP Winner Clayton Kershaw against the reigning World Series MVP Winner Madison Bumgarner.
Part three played out much like parts one and two, with a low scoring game, lots of strikeouts, and a Giants victory.
"There's not a lot to write about," Kershaw said after the game. "He's won every time."
Bumgarner hit a solo shot off Kershaw in the third inning and the Giants would tack on three more as San Francisco defeated Los Angeles 4-0 to complete their second consecutive sweep of their divisional rivals at AT&T Park.
"He's the best pitcher in baseball," Bumgarner said of his counterpart. "To be able to do that is pretty special."
To put the historical accomplishment in perspective, the last time the Giants swept the Dodgers in back-to-back home series in San Francisco, it was in the fall of 1961.
The Giants could not have been more dominant in the three-game series as San Francisco shutout the Dodgers in all three games, recording their major league leading eighth shutout on Thursday.
"We're not going to panic," Mattingly said. "We're going to be fine. We've hit a bumpy stretch, but we're still in a pretty good position."
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The Dodgers struggles were magnified in the Bay Area as fans chanted "Sweep LA," throughout the afternoon. Cheering every time the Boys in Blue left runners on base for failed to knock in runners in scoring position. In total, Los Angeles was 0-for-17 with runners in scoring position and left 29 men on base in the three-game series.
The Dodgers failures in those two categories have been atrocious. Over the past four games, the Dodgers have been shutout for 31 consecutive innings, stranding 32 runners on base over that span.
"This is not the brand of Dodgers baseball we want to be playing," said starting catcher A.J. Ellis. "Hopefully going home, we can relax and play in a place we're really comfortable in front of our fans."
Bumgarner took Kershaw deep to left field for his first homer of the season. It was Bumgarner's first long ball since last September 23rd, 2014 at Dodger Stadium against Zack Grienke, and the first home run Kershaw has allowed to a pitcher in his career.
"I threw him a fastball right down the middle," said a frustrated Kershaw. "I should have respected him a little more."
Giants added another run in the bottom half of the fourth inning. After a leadoff double by Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence singled to right and Scott Van Slyke appeared to have Pagan dead to rights at the plate. After further review however, Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis appeared to have missed the tag and Pagan was ruled safe.
Bumgarner (5-2) received a standing ovation for his efforts when he walked off the mound in the 7th inning. The southpaw allowed no runs on five hits, with six strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work and is now 2-0 with 1.31. ERA against the Dodgers this season.
Kershaw (2-3) hit the wall in the bottom of the eighth inning as he allowed back-to-back singles to Pagan and Posey before Dodgers manager Don Mattingly went to the bullpen. The relievers couldn't stop the bleeding and allowed consecutive singles to Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford to put the Giants up 4-0. Both runs were charged to Kershaw.
"I didn't feel like I had my best stuff today," Kershaw said. "I did whatever I could to make it work."
At times, Kershaw has looked like the best player on the planet this season, but mainly, he has looked pedestrian as his ERA jumped to 4.32 on Thursday. Kershaw allowed four runs on seven hits, with seven strikeouts in 7.1 innings. His four runs were the most he's every allowed at AT&T Park in his career.
The Giants move to 1.5 games behind the Dodgers for first place in the National League West and Los Angeles falls to 0-6 at AT&T Park on the season.
The six-game winning streak for San Francisco is the longest against their rivals since 1972.
Game Notes:
Buster Posey extended his hitting streak to a season-high 13 games. Madison Bumgarner now has 7 career home runs, the most among active pitchers since 2006.
