SAN FRANCISCO — Finally … a boat race.
The Dodgers have spent the past week-plus in uncomfortably close quarters. Their previous three games were one-run decisions. Five of their previous seven and six of their previous nine games were decided in the eighth inning or later.
By comparison, Wednesday night’s 8-0 Dodgers victory with Walker Buehler throwing seven scoreless innings on his 27th birthday was a leisurely cruise.
The Dodgers scored four times in the third inning off Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani. That alone was their biggest lead since a 9-2 win in Colorado on July 17.
“That was good,” said AJ Pollock, who had three hits and reached base four times Wednesday. “We’ve played a lot of tight games and to get one like that where you can just relax and cruise a little bit, those are fun.
“Yeah, it’s good to just pile on some runs and make it an easy one.”
The win cut the Giants’ lead over the Dodgers in the NL West to two games with Wednesday afternoon’s series finale the last time the two rivals will see each other until September (and then only three more times).
DeSclafani might want to take that weekend off. The Giants right-hander is having a terrific season – except when he faces the Dodgers.
Four consecutive Dodgers reached base against DeSclafani with one out in the third inning. Chris Taylor walked, Max Muncy singled, Justin Turner drove in a run with a bloop single and Will Smith drove in two with a triple. Two batters later, Pollock drove in another run with an RBI single.
The four runs in the third nearly matched the Dodgers’ total offensive output from their previous three games (five runs).
After DeSclafani walked Matt Beaty, his day was done, failing to get through three innings for the second time in five starts against the Dodgers this year.
In those five starts, the Dodgers have batted .341 (31 for 91) against DeSclafani with 22 runs in 21 innings (a 9.43 ERA). The rest of MLB has hit .179 off DeSclafani and he has a 1.78 ERA in those 16 starts.
“I think like any pitcher if you kind of put pressure on them then good things can happen,” Pollock said.
“When you’re facing top pitchers, you’re just dialing in, trying to make it uncomfortable, doing your best. We’ve done a pretty good job of that. We know that if we can string at-bats together we can get anybody in the league.”
Buehler could have taken that four-run gift – the Dodgers’ biggest single inning since a four-run ninth on July 17 – as his birthday present and headed for the bouncy house.
He didn’t allow a hit until a two-out single by Wilmer Flores in the fourth inning and didn’t allow a Giants runner past first base until a single and a wild pitch on a third strike put two on with two outs in the sixth. Buehler, whose only loss this season came against the Cubs on June 24 when the Dodgers were shut out, improved to 7-0 lifetime against the Giants. In five starts versus San Francisco this season, he is 3-0 with a 0.79 ERA.
“He’s nasty,” Pollock said. “He’s just dialed in. it doesn’t look like a fun at-bat up there for anyone.”
Buehler allowed just three hits while completing seven innings for the ninth time in 21 starts this season. Over his past 10 starts, Buehler is 7-1 with a 1.52 ERA. Batters are hitting just .164 with nearly twice as many strikeouts (69) as hits (37).
“Just trying to mix. Will (Smith) did a really really good job of keeping me on both sides of the plate, moving the ball around. So hats off to him and luckily we made enough good pitches to get out of there pretty clean,” Buehler said.
He did acknowledge incorporating a changeup as “a little bit of a new wrinkle” recently.
“It’s just something for a hitter to think about,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But he’s sequencing, for me, as good as he ever has and not always trying to bully guys with 96, 97 (mph). The weapons that he has, we’ve always known it. Just to see him put it in practice each start, we’re seeing the benefits, the fruits of it.”
In a National League that didn’t include Jacob deGrom, Buehler would be near the pack of Cy Young Award candidates. He leads the National League in innings (135-2/3), is third in ERA (2.19) and fourth in WHIP (0.90) among the non-deGrom field.
“We all know how good he is in October. The challenge for him, the next level, was to put it together in the regular season,” Roberts said. “That’s something he challenged himself on and he’s done that up to this point.
“You can’t take anything away from Jacob and what he does. But I would say just the ability to post and what Walker has done in totality shouldn’t go unnoticed. Part of a Cy Young is performance and dominance – but also the ability to post. Walker has done that better than anybody as far as going deep into games and performing.”
The Dodgers added three runs in the seventh, two coming on Muncy’s third hit of the game (a double off the base of the center field wall). Cody Bellinger hit a solo home run in the eighth inning, his first homer since the Dodgers’ 22-run romp on July 10.
Walker Buehler (7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 8 K, 2 BB) talks post-game with @kirsten_watson about what was working so well for him in tonight’s birthday win for the #Dodgers. pic.twitter.com/nWG4llGeuR
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 29, 2021
That Will Smith is so hot right now. pic.twitter.com/g2D6jzORsF
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 29, 2021
AJ Pollock (3-4, 1 RBI, 1 R) discusses his current success at the plate for the #Dodgers after tonight’s bounce-back win over SF. pic.twitter.com/Of5aD6eVnc
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 29, 2021
Death, taxes, and Max Muncy RBI at Oracle. #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/fmsLLn9f6c
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 29, 2021
BREAK IT OPEN, BELLI!
#Dodgers pic.twitter.com/A0Rf8MCQbB
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 29, 2021
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