The Los Angeles Dodgers won a fifth consecutive game and snapped the San Francisco Giants’ season-best five-game winning streak by clawing out a 2-1 victory at Oracle Park on Friday night. The meeting marked the first of the season between the storied rivals.
However, it also was the first of seven head-to-head matchups in nine days. “I think they’re looking forward to playing us, we’re looking forward to seeing these guys this year,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before first pitch.
“We’re chasing those guys right now. The history certainly speaks to a rivalry — it is. I know our players look forward to playing the Giants and coming up here. It’s going to be a really good series.”
Trevor Bauer and Alex Wood both doing their part to keep the game close in front of an announced attendance of 12,753 further fueled the intensity of the series opener. “It felt great,” Roberts said after the win.
“I think this is really the first time going on the road, almost having a capacity stadium, obviously the rivalry, ‘Beat L.A.’ and ‘Let’s go Dodgers,’ it just felt like a real rivalry game. We haven’t had that in quite some time. It was fun.”
Roberts’ remarks were not necessarily meant as a slight toward the San Diego Padres, though he has routinely stated they are not a rival to the Dodgers. Furthermore, the setting at Petco Park was electric when L.A. played in front of fans in San Diego.
The sentiment Roberts expressed was echoed by Chris Taylor, who added, “It was fun. You can feel the energy. It felt like a playoff atmosphere. Obviously they’ve been playing really good baseball and they’ve got a good team.
“We’ve been playing good recently, so we knew it was going to be a hard-fought game. It was a good win for us.”
Bauer enjoyed first experience in Dodgers-Giants rivalry
Tension was further heightened by Trevor Bauer doing his ‘sword’ celebration after a strikeout and egging on boos from Giants fans as he walked off the field in the seventh inning.
“It was pretty fun,” Bauer said. “Looking forward to the stadium being full capacity next time.”
The start was Bauer’s first of his career against the Giants.
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