LOS ANGELES — A night after closer Kenley Jansen walked off the mound to a chorus of boos in front of the home crowd at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts gave his closer a chance at redemption.
After watching the San Francisco Giants stand by their closer, Tyler Rogers, on Wednesday, the Dodgers couldn’t possibly give up on the three-time All-Star and the greatest closer in their franchise history.
Right?
The only difference 24 hours made was that when Jansen finally walked off the mound on Thursday, the boos were much, much louder.
For the second time in as many nights, the Giants rallied to win against a pitcher who hadn’t blown a save against them in eight years as Gabe Kapler’s club captured a dramatic 5-3 win with a four-run ninth-inning rally to clinch a series victory.
A chaotic ninth inning featured a replay review and an overturned call at second base, a controversial strike call that drew the ire of Giants first baseman Darin Ruf and a blown check-swing call that allowed San Francisco to score the tying run.
A night after Rogers made things look easy with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, the Giants made Jansen’s night long and arduous.
After Wilmer Flores singled and Donovan Solano doubled, Giants rookie Jason Vosler came to the plate with two outs and fell behind in the count 1-2 before taking three straight balls from the Dodgers closer to load the bases.
The Giants’ fill-in for injured shortstop Brandon Crawford, Thairo Estrada, came to the plate next and grounded into what appeared to be a game-ending fielder’s choice, but a replay review overturned the call on the field to rule Vosler safe at second.
Kapler credited the rookie for excellent instincts on the basepaths and putting pressure on Dodgers shortstop Chris Taylor whose throw to second base was a split-second late.
“Vosler’s secondary, both the lead and the secondary, I thought was the most important play of the game,” Kapler said.
The next batter, Ruf, took a 2-0 pitch that was well off the plate for a called strike by home plate umpire Jansen Visconti, but the Giants were gifted a favor when he appeared to go around on a 3-2 swing that would have ended the game. First base umpire Ed Hickox instead said Ruf held up his check swing, meaning he could trot to first base with a RBI walk.
At the end of it all, the Giants emerged thanks to a tie-breaking, two-run single from LaMonte Wade Jr. who chased Jansen for the second night in a row with a line drive to right field on the right-hander’s 33rd and final pitch of the night.
The Dodgers wasted another stellar performance from starter Walker Buehler and the Giants’ bullpen pitched well behind Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani, but nothing that occurred in the first eight innings on Thursday could match the tense moments that took place in the ninth.
