Buster's slam has Giants on Dodgers' heels
LOS ANGELES -- Buster Posey belted a grand slam and singled to contribute to a four-run outburst in the seventh inning as the San Francisco Giants subdued the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-5, despite a three-hit effort from Justin Turner on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
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Giants right-hander Chris Heston (7-5) lasted only 5 2/3 innings but benefited from Posey's third career slam, which came in the third inning off Dodgers starter Mike Bolsinger (4-2). Posey's seventh-inning single loaded the bases and set up a two-out rally highlighted by Matt Duffy's two-run single.
"The good thing is, it's self-inflicting things and things I can learn from," Bolsinger said. "It's not like I'm going out there and getting the snot beat out of me. It's a learning method. It's tough, but you learn from it."
Turner homered in the eighth inning and reached base in all four of his plate appearances, picking up two RBIs, but San Francisco pulled away to improve to 8-2 against the Dodgers this season, trimming Los Angeles' National League West lead to 1 1/2 games with two games remaining in the weekend series.
"That's hard to explain," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of San Francisco's dominance over its biggest rival. "We've gotten some timely hits and we've played some good defense against them, and that's what wins games for you."
Video: SF@LAD: Casilla fans Puig for final out in 9-5 win
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Grand mistake: Bolsinger got ahead, 0-2, on Posey in the top of the third but couldn't put him away. A cutter just missed the plate to even the count at 2-2 and after Posey fouled off a pitch, Bolsinger hung a curveball over the middle of the plate that Posey put into the Dodgers' bullpen for a grand slam.
"I was able to see some pitches in that at-bat," Posey said. "Fortunately, I got a pitch that stayed up."
Said Bolsinger, "I think I got a little too lazy with that curveball and just kind of served it up to him. Maybe I could've thrown another pitch, but I wanted to go with my strength." More >
Video: SF@LAD: Posey belts a grand slam to left field in 3rd
Reliable relief: With the Giants protecting a 5-3 lead in the sixth inning, left-hander Jeremy Affeldt relieved Heston and coaxed a flyout to center from Scott Van Slyke to strand a runner at third base. This ended several skids for Affeldt, who had yielded eight earned runs in his last 11 2/3 innings, 10 runs in 9 1/3 innings on the road and seven hits in 15 previous at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Video: SF@LAD: Affeldt induces flyout to escape jam in 6th
Joc's catch: As the Giants added an insurance run in the sixth and looked to pile on, Dodgers rookie center fielder Joc Pederson kept the game within reach. With a pair of runners on base, Gregor Blanco smoked a sinking liner into right-center. Pederson read it well off the bat and dove to make the acrobatic catch and keep San Francisco from tacking on. More >
Video: Must C Catch: Pederson turns heads with amazing grab
Two-out theatrics: The Dodgers could have avoided the Giants' four-run seventh without allowing a single run, but San Francisco hitters capitalized on Los Angeles' lapses. With the bases loaded and two outs, Brandon Crawford walked to force in a run. Duffy singled home two more on a line drive that darted under shortstop Jimmy Rollins' glove. Blanco, playing for the first time since missing nine games with a concussion, singled home Crawford to end the uprising.
"They did a great job of adding on," Bochy said.
Video: SF@LAD: Duffy scores Pagan, Posey with a single
QUOTABLE
"They're a good club, that's the No. 1 thing. One year, a team might have your number, we're not conceding that. There's a lot of baseball to be played. There's a game tomorrow, actually, that we plan on winning." -- Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, on losing eight of 10 to the Giants this season
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
An RBI single from Yasmani Grandal with one out in the second inning snapped a 32 1/3-inning scoreless streak for the Dodgers against the Giants. Los Angeles' longest scoring drought against a single opponent is 33 innings, against the Pirates from September 1967-April 1968.
Video: SF@LAD: Grandal brings home Kendrick with a single
WHAT'S NEXT
Giants: Tim Hudson will attempt to reverse a career-long Dodger Stadium trend in Saturday's 4:15 p.m. PT rematch. Hudson is 1-4 with a 4.37 ERA in 10 starts at Chavez Ravine, where he last won on May 15, 2005.
Dodgers: Carlos Frias takes the mound for the middle game of the series. Frias is 1-4 in his last six starts but has allowed just one run in 7 1/3 innings against San Francisco this season.
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