LOS ANGELES_There were no verbal grenades lobbed at each other, no brush-back pitches, no postgame admonishments. Mad Max vs. MadBum the Sequel kind of fizzled Thursday night, with Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Max Muncy and San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner dueling to a relatively inconsequential draw.
The rest of the Dodgers batters were a box-office hit, though, pounding Bumgarner for five runs and eight hits _ none by Muncy but two by Chris Taylor _ in the fourth inning and then holding on for dear life in a 9-8 victory over the Giants before 43,742 in Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers had a 7-1 lead through six innings and a 9-4 lead entering the ninth. Josh Sborz, a right-hander who was called up from triple A earlier Thursday, retired the side in order in the eighth before running into trouble in the ninth.
Evan Longoria led off with a walk. Kevin Pillar singled. Brandon Crawford doubled to right-center field for a run that made it 9-5, and Pillar scored on Alex Verdugo's fielding error to make it 9-6.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts summoned closer Kenley Jansen, who gave up an RBI single to Mike Yastrzemski that made it 9-7. Stephen Vogt walked to put two on, and Joe Panik hit an RBI single to center that made it 9-8.
San Francisco had two on with no outs. Tyler Austin dropped a sacrifice bunt attempt. First baseman Cody Bellinger fielded the ball a few feet in front of the plate and fired to third for a force out, a call that was upheld by instant replay.
Buster Posey, with the runners moving on a full-count pitch, flied to deep center field, Verdugo hauling in the drive on the warning track for the second out. Brandon Belt flied to right to end the game, Jansen securing his 22nd save.
Five innings earlier, the game looked like a blowout. Taylor started the fifth-inning rally by flaring a double to right field and closed it with a run-scoring single to left. In between, Kyle Garlick and Austin Barnes hit two-run homers, Garlick's capping a nine-pitch at-bat, and Enrique Hernandez, Justin Turner and David Freese singled to load the bases with one out.
Bumgarner got Muncy to fly to shallow left field, the runners holding, but Taylor drove Bumgarner's 45th pitch of the inning and last of the game to left for an RBI single and a 6-0 lead.
The 3 2/3-inning, six-run, 10-hit start was Bumgarner's shortest since April 11, 2015, when he lasted only three innings against San Diego. In 35 career starts against the Dodgers, Bumgarner has never allowed more runs or hits.
The Dodgers finished with 16 hits, including a homer, single and double by Barnes, a homer and two singles by Garlick, and two doubles and a single by Turner. Joc Pederson drove a pinch-hit two-run homer to left _ his 20th homer of the season, all off right-handed pitchers _ in the seventh inning.
Pederson, the team's regular left fielder, remained in the game and made his major league debut at first base before moving to left field for the ninth.
The Muncy-Bumgarner rematch was tame compared to their war of words on June 9, when Muncy took Bumgarner deep with a 426-foot splash-hit into McCovey Cove in the first inning of a 1-0 Dodgers win at San Francisco.
The usually mild-mannered Muncy did not flip his bat but took three leisurely steps out of the box to admire his shot before breaking into his trot. The notoriously feisty Bumgarner was offended.
Bumgarner stalked Muncy down the line, screaming, "You don't watch the ball, you run!" Muncy's response? "If you don't want me to watch the ball, you can go in the ocean and get it."
Within hours that Sunday, two apparel companies produced T-shirts with Muncy's quote, and several Dodgers wore them proudly throughout this homestand. Muncy donned his for batting practice Thursday, catching the eye of veteran Giants manager Bruce Bochy.
"The T-shirts ... that's poking the bear," Bochy said. "You poke the bear enough, you can't be upset if he bites back."
Bumgarner had neither bark nor bite Thursday night. Muncy poked an RBI single to right off him for a 1-0 lead in the first. Bumgarner retired Muncy in the third (grounder to second) and fourth innings but was swept away amid a relentless wave of hits in the fourth.
Julio Urias made a spot start so the Dodgers could give their other pitchers an extra day of rest during a stretch in which they're playing 18 games in 18 days and 24 games in 25 days before the All-Star break.
But when Rich Hill went on the injured list because of a flexor tendon strain on Thursday, Urias' start morphed into more of an audition for a rotation spot.
The 22-year-old left-hander aced the test, allowing one hit, striking out five and walking none in three scoreless innings, his fastball touching 97 mph on a first-inning strikeout of Belt. After throwing 23 pitches in the first, Urias needed only 10 pitches to retire the Giants in order in the second and third.
Right-hander JT Chargois allowed a run but struck out five in two innings. Ross Stripling, another candidate for Hill's rotation spot, gave up three unearned runs in two innings, including a two-run homer to Yastrzemski.
.png?w=600)
