The Los Angeles Dodgers snapped a three-game losing streak to the San Francisco Giants behind a dominant effort from Walker Buehler en route to an 8-0 shut out at Oracle Park.
Buehler held the Giants without a hit until Wilmer Flores’ two-out single in the bottom of the fourth inning. Darin Ruf led off the fifth with a base hit and Mike Yastrzemski singled the next inning, but that was all Buehler allowed.
He finished with eight strikeouts over seven shutout innings and now has gone at least that long in three of five starts against the Giants this season. Buehler also joined Hideo Nomo as the only Dodgers pitchers to log a minimum of seven innings on his birthday.
Buehler exited with the Dodgers holding a commanding 7-0 lead. They opened the scoring when Justin Turner’s slicing fly ball to right field landed fair.
A four-spot in the third! pic.twitter.com/GLUTnQDn8l
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 29, 2021
Come for Muncy’s hit, stay for Buehler’s reaction. pic.twitter.com/zsLgw6aNSb
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 29, 2021
Belli. Yard. pic.twitter.com/bpQfOn3jS3
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 29, 2021
Birthday flex. pic.twitter.com/7k8fmTEptj
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) July 29, 2021
Will Smith followed that with a drive into Triples Alley and appropriately made it live up to its name with his three-base hit that extended the Dodgers’ lead to 3-0 in the third inning. AJ Pollock continued his hot month of July with an RBI single, good for one of his three hits on the night.
Pollock later scored on the contact play when Buehler hit a chopper to third base and Curt Casali couldn’t field the throw to home plate. Max Muncy then broke the game open with a two-run double off the wall in center field.
Cody Bellinger tacked on another run with a solo homer in the eighth inning. The home run was Bellinger’s fifth his season and first since July 10.
Dodgers chasing Giants
With their win the Dodgers now head into the rubber match on Thursday afternoon with a chance to take the series at Oracle Park and pull to within one game of the Giants for first place in the National League West standings.
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