April 10--REPORTING FROM SAN FRANCISCO -- The roster thinned as the day stretched into extra innings, the team strained by injuries and in-game adjustments. The man who finished the game at shortstop started the day on the bench. The left fielder started the day at shortstop. The second baseman started in Nashville.
Despite the attrition, the Dodgers outlasted the Giants for a 3-2 victory in 10 innings amid a near-downpour at AT Park. Charlie Culberson, the shortstop turned left fielder, delivered the go-ahead hit when he plated Corey Seager, the shortstop who started the day on the bench. Micah Johnson flew in from Tennessee as a replacement for injured outfielder Carl Crawford.
The Dodgers (4-2) ended the threat of a four-game sweep and recovered from a two-day swoon against their division rivals. The lineup erased a one-run deficit in the ninth to remove pressure from starter Clayton Kershaw and change the conversation after a day of offensive futility.
Madison Bumgarner bested Kershaw at the plate, and the Dodgers failed to capitalize on a quartet of leadoff doubles in the first eight innings. Kershaw outlasted Bumgarner by two full frames. Kershaw committed two mistakes across eight frames. Both home runs disappeared into a swarm of orange and black in the stands beyond left field.
Bumgarner supplied the first blast. He is the only pitcher who has ever taken Kershaw deep. And now he has done it two seasons in a row.
The Dodgers extended the game thanks to a rally in the ninth. Giants closer Santiago Casilla loaded the bases when he drilled Justin Turner. Adrian Gonzalez hit a grounder to second base, but Giants reserve Kelby Tomlinson failed to turn a double play, and the score was tied.
Rain soaked the city overnight, but the tarp blanketed the diamond. Kershaw took the field about 45 minutes before the scheduled start time. As he loosened up, he was called into a conversation on the field with Manager Dave Roberts, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and the umpiring crew. Kershaw cut short his warmup and walked into the clubhouse with his head down.
The game started after a 41-minute delay. Kershaw tangled with Bumgarner about 45 minutes later. Bumgarner fouled off a high fastball and passed on a slider. Kershaw tried a second fastball, 93-mph and headed for the inner half. Bumgarner turned on the pitch. Kershaw spat invective as the ball landed in the left-field seats.
The Dodgers evened the score in the third. They loaded the bases for the second time in three innings and profited on a mistake by Bumgarner. After singles by Enrique Hernandez, Justin Turner and Adrian Gonzalez, Bumgarner hit Scott Van Slyke on the left elbow with a 91-mph fastball.
Van Slyke left the game after he claimed first base. He appeared uncomfortable after swinging through a fastball before getting hit by a pitch. He felt tightness in his lower back.
As the bottom of the fifth began, Kershaw appeared in rhythm. Save for a single by Buster Posey in the third, he kept the Giants off the bases. Then a slap-hitting infielder named Ehire Adrianza came to the plate. In his career, Adrianza had hit only one other homer, a shot off Andy Pettitte in Yankee Stadium in 2013. He would soon add an even more accomplished left-hander to his resume.
Kershaw pumped a 92-mph fastball toward Adrianza's hands. Adrianza started his swing early in hopes of seeing a heater. The gambit worked, and he pulled a solo shot down the left-field line.
Bumgarner pitched six innings. The Dodgers led off with a hit in four of them. The offense could not capitalize. Hernandez doubled to start the game but finished the inning at third base. Culberson opened the fourth with a double but could not advance another step.
The pattern held in the sixth. Trayce Thompson poked a double down the third-base line. A strikeout by A.J. Ellis hampered the team's chances to manufacture a run. After a flyout by Culberson, Roberts let Kershaw hit for himself. Kershaw grounded out and returned to the mound.
The eighth inning proved just as frustrating. Gonzalez doubled off left-handed reliever Javier Lopez. Roberts tried a flurry of managerial moves to no avail. His first pinch-hitter, Austin Barnes, struck out. So did Thompson. Bruce Bochy intentionally walked another pinch-hitter, Corey Seager, before right-handed reliever Hunter Strickland got Culberson to fly out.
Follow Andy McCullough on Twitter: @McCulloughTimes
