Austin Slater had his first multi-homer game, Johnny Cueto took a no-hitter into the sixth inning and the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 on Saturday night.
Slater hit solo shots over the wall in center in the third and fifth innings off Clayton Kershaw and became only the seventh player to hit two homers in the same game off the Dodgers' ace.
"I made too many mistakes," said Kershaw who was short with his answers following the game. "I left too many balls over the middle of the plate. They did a good job all the way through. My command wasn't quite as good tonight."
It was a tough night for Kershaw (1-1), who has traditionally dominated the Giants. The right-hander came into the game with a 23-12 record and 1.74 ERA against San Francisco, but allowed four runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings with a walk and six strikeouts. It is the second-shortest start of Kershaw’s career against the Giants and the first time he has allowed three home runs in a game to them in 49 starts.
Cueto (1-0) only allowed a third-inning walk to Chris Taylor in the first five innings before hitting a wall in the sixth. He went 5 2/3 innings, marking his second straight outing where he was gone at least five innings. The right-hander allowed four runs on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts.
Mike Yastrzemski also homered in the third to extend San Francisco’s lead to 2-0. His drive to right marked the third time in Kershaw’s last seven regular-season starts that he has allowed multiple HR’s in the same inning.
Yastrzemski chased Kershaw with an RBI double to right-center to give the Giants a 4-0 lead in the fourth. they added a run in the sixth when Mauricio Dubón’ s sacrifice fly plated Hunter Pence.
Kiké Hernández led off the Dodgers’ sixth with a triple to left that Pence lost track of in the Dodger Stadium twilight and scored on Austin Barnes’ ground out. Cueto walked two of the next three Dodger batters before his night ended when Justin Turner drove a hanging curveball halfway up the bleachers in left to bring LA within 5-4.
STREAKING ALONG
Donovan Solano had three hits and upped his batting average to .462, which leads the majors.
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The Giants second baseman extended his hitting streak to a MLB-high 13 games with a first-inning single to left. It also marks the longest of his career, surpassing the 12-game streak he had with the Miami Marlins in 2012.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Giants: RHP Jeff Samardjiza was placed on the 10-day injured list before the game due to right shoulder impingement. ... RHP Trevor Cahill (fingernail) threw three innings during an intrasquad game on Friday but still hasn't built up enough innings yet to rejoin the rotation.
Dodgers: SS Corey Seager got a clean MRI scan on his back and is feeling less pain. Seager left Friday's game after feeling discomfort in his lower back.
UP NEXT
Dodgers' right-hander Walker Buehler (0-0, 5.19 ERA) is 4-0 in six games against the Giants, with four being starts. Righty Kevin Gausman (0-1, 5.27 ERA) is still looking for his first win in a San Francisco uniform after signing during the offseason.
