Adrian's walk-off ends clash with Giants in 14th
LOS ANGELES -- Adrian Gonzalez, who homered eight innings earlier, lofted a single to deep left field with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the 14th inning for a 5-4, walk-off Dodgers win over the Giants in their showdown series opener at Dodger Stadium on Monday night.
The Dodgers now lead the Giants by 4 1/2 games, the largest margin since July 16, but manager Don Mattingly's celebration was muted.
"Those guys don't go away," he said of the Giants.
Video: SF@LAD: Mattingly on 5-4 win in extra innings
Chris Hatcher, the sixth reliever used by the Dodgers, pitched a career-high three scoreless innings for the win, which he called "the biggest of the year" for the team.
No-hit the night before by Jake Arrieta of the Cubs, the Dodgers rallied from behind on sixth-inning home runs from Gonzalez and Andre Ethier off Jake Peavy, but the Giants tied the game on a Marlon Byrd eighth-inning double for his third RBI of the game and 17th in 14 games with San Francisco.
"It was a gutty effort by so many guys," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Really, I'm proud of them for trying to find a way to win this one."
• Romo highlights bullpen's stalwart effort
The winning rally was started by A.J. Ellis' leadoff walk against Mike Broadway, followed by singles from Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley to load the bases. Yusmeiro Petit, San Francisco's ninth pitcher, relieved Broadway and was greeted by Gonzalez's opposite-field fly that easily cleared the head of drawn-in outfielder Nori Aoki.
"We're playing the game the right way at the right time," said Gonzalez.
The Giants scored three runs in a strange third inning against Dodgers starting pitcher Brett Anderson, two of them scoring on a two-out dribbler hit by Byrd and smothered in shallow right field by second baseman Utley, who was shifted behind second base. Two batters earlier, Brandon Belt singled home Peavy with the bases loaded.
Video: SF@LAD: Byrd plates a pair with soft infield single
The Dodgers used all of their position players and had Clayton Kershaw pinch-hit in the 11th inning, when he grounded out. J.P. Howell was the only reliever the Dodgers did not use, but Mattingly said if the game had gone long enough, starting pitcher Mat Latos would have played right field and outfielder Scott Van Slyke would have pitched. The game lasted five hours and 29 minutes.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
No no-no: Rollins made sure the Dodgers wouldn't be no-hit again when he led off the bottom of the first inning with a line single, then he hustled to second tagging up on Utley's flyout to center, putting himself in scoring position for Justin Turner's RBI double.
Video: SF@LAD: Turner gets Dodgers started with RBI double
Selective speed: The Giants aren't known for stealing bases. They ranked ninth in that category in the National League entering Monday. But they benefited from this ploy to tie the score in the eighth. Matt Duffy drew a leadoff walk from Dodgers reliever Juan Nicasio before stealing second -- his eighth theft in as many tries this year -- which set him up to score easily on Byrd's double. Gregor Blanco stole second in the ninth inning, but was stranded when Duffy smashed a one-hopper to shortstop.
New speed: Dodgers rookie Jose Peraza stole third base for the second time in three games and has three stolen bases in his four MLB games. That's only six shy of Rollins' club-high nine. A natural infielder, he started Monday in center field after playing only 17 games there in the Minor Leagues this year.
Video: SF@LAD: Peraza steals third, call stands after review
Peavy peeved: The Giants right-hander was self-critical over the sixth-inning home runs he allowed to Gonzalez and Ethier that turned a 3-1 Giants lead into a 4-3 Dodgers edge.
"I should have made different pitch selections," said Peavy, referring to the fastball Gonzalez crushed and the curveball Ethier drove. "I don't think they were the smartest decisions that I've made."
Video: SF@LAD: Ethier launches go-ahead homer to right
QUOTABLE
"As soon as I saw Aoki's number and him turn around, I felt really comfortable. I was never really comfortable until I touched home plate and didn't get tagged out. There a was a high level of panic." -- Ellis on scoring the winning run.
REPLAY REVIEW
The Giants challenged the ninth-inning safe call on Peraza, who stole third base with one out. After the play was reviewed, it was determined that the call on the field stands.
WHAT'S NEXT
Giants: San Francisco will call upon its brightest hope for victory, left-hander Madison Bumgarner, in Tuesday's 7:10 p.m. PT rematch. Bumgarner's eight career victories at Dodger Stadium are the most by a Giants pitcher since Hall of Fame right-hander Juan Marichal went 14-11 at Chavez Ravine.
Dodgers: MLB ERA leader Zack Greinke, who starts for the Dodgers on Tuesday in the 7:10 p.m. PT showdown, is 7-1 at Dodger Stadium this year and 6-0 with a 2.28 ERA in his career against the Giants, including a win April 29.
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.