One day after producing a sixth career multi-home run game, Corey Seager collected three hits to set the table for Cody Bellinger. He drove in each of the Los Angeles Dodgers runs in their 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants, which extended the Dodgers’ winning streak to seven game.
Seager’s first hit came in the bottom of the first inning on a bullet to right field that was legged out for a hustle double. Justin Turner followed with a walk, and Bellinger lined an RBI single into right-center field.
Then two batters after Seager led off the third with a second double to right field, Bellinger pulled an RBI single by a drawn-in Jae-Gyun Hwang at first base.
Ty Blach otherwise managed to navigate his way through traffic over seven innings. It wasn’t until the sixth that the left-hander set the side down in order.
Following Bellinger’s single in the first inning, Blach walked Logan Forsythe to load the bases. He escaped the jam by inducing Yasiel Puig into an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play on a full count.
Yasmani Grandal led off the second and fourth innings with base hits, only to be stranded both times. Seager’s leadoff single in the fifth didn’t amount to anything as Bellinger later grounded into a double play.
Blach stranded Chris Taylor after he hit a two-out double in the seventh. While Taylor was left on the bases, he extended his hitting streak to seven games.
Rich Hill made the slim lead stand as he retired the first 11 batters faced. The string was snapped by a Hunter Pence solo home run with two outs in the fourth inning. Hill immediately reacted in disgust once Pence made contact on the hanging breaking ball.
Hill’s only trouble on the afternoon came in the fifth when Gorkys Hernandez doubled with two outs and advanced to third on Taylor’s fielding error. That made Brandon Crawford’s leadoff walk and subsequent pickoff all the more costly for the Giants.
Kelby Tomlinson was intentionally walked to put runners at the corners before Hill retired Blach to end a scoreless inning. Hill pitched into the sixth inning, removed only so that Pedro Baez could face Pence.
Hill didn’t appear thrilled with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts’ decision, but the results supported it. Baez retired Pence and proceeded to get through the seventh inning without issue. Josh Fields and Luis Avilan combined for a scoreless eighth, and Kenley Jansen converted his 27th save of the season.
It wasn’t without some suspense, however, as Buster Posey walked with two outs and Brandon Crawford singled to put the tying run in scoring position. But Hwang offered little resistance, striking out on three pitches.
Hill finished an impressive month of July with only five runs allowed over 31 innings (1.45 ERA), five walks and 40 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .171 batting average. The Dodgers won each of his five outings.
By going wire-to-wire on Saturday afternoon, the Dodgers improved to 51-7 this season when scoring first and extended their MLB record to 51 consecutive wins in games they’ve led in.
