The Dodgers won their third straight game, and fourth in five contests, on Tuesday in a 2-1 victory over San Francisco. Hyun-Jin Ryu delivered a strong start, while Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp flexed some power in the win.
Ryu came into Tuesday's game with eight days of rest due to concerns of overuse in his first MLB season. The extra rest did him well as he pitched seven great innings, giving up one run and four hits with seven strikeouts.
The only run he gave up was a solo shot to Tony Abreu. Kind of surprising considering Abreu only had one homer in 47 games this season.
Ryu has one start remaining against the Rockies in the regular-season finale on Sunday. In the last three games the Dodgers pitchers: Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Ryu, combined for 19 innings pitched, one earned run, nine hits and 19 strikeouts.
There is always plenty of chatter surrounding Kershaw and Greinke as the Dodgers elite one-two punch, but with Ryu following them up, they could possibly be the best trio in baseball. All three pitchers currently have an ERA under 3.00.
The Dodgers provided Ryu with only two runs of support, both coming off solo home runs. Yasiel Puig broke open the scoreless tie in the fifth with a homer to left, and with the game tied 1-1 in the sixth, Matt Kemp jacked one to center for the game-winning run.
The Dodgers had eight hits in the game, but went 0-7 with runners in scoring position, and stranded nine runners on base.
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Brian Wilson came out of the bullpen in the eighth for his Dodger debut in San Francisco. He was received with plenty of boos from Giants fans who consider him a traitor, and cheers from Giants fans who still love the eccentric relief pitcher.
He sat the Giants down in order while striking out two batters. Kenley Jansen entered in the ninth and struck out two to conserve the 2-1 victoy. It was his 28th save of the season.
The Dodgers have won three games in a row to stay within two games of the Braves for the top seed in the National League and 1.5 games behind St Louis for the second seed. Ricky Nolasco takes on Barry Zito on Wednesday as he looks to match what the rest of the Dodgers rotation has been able to do in the last three games.
