Having already secured the second-best record in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers punctuated their road trip and season by completing a sweep of the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park with a 9-0 shut out.
The Dodgers closed the year out on a seven-game winning streak and the most wins in franchise history.
Any potential letdown on the final day of the regular season was immediately erased as Corey Seager hit a double with the bases loaded to score three runs, and Will Smith followed with a two-run homer that carried just enough to clear the fence in left-center field.
The double was Seager’s 44th of the season, tying him with Johnny Frederick (1930), Shawn Green (2000) for fifth in Dodgers franchise history.
The early run support was more than enough for Rich Hill, who further stated his case to be included on the Dodgers’ postseason roster. He again showed some signs of discomfort during the first inning but still managed to turn in a scoreless outing.
Hill worked around Buster Posey’s two-out single in the first — the first hit he allowed since returning from the 60-day injured list — and erased a walk in the second by inducing an inning-ending double play.
After collecting four strikeouts over three innings, Hill continued throwing in the bullpen. The Dodgers pieced the game together from there, using eight relief pitchers to finish out their win.
Among them was Clayton Kershaw, who entered in the fifth inning. He was pitching on just two days’ rest but still had his usual velocity and command. The oddity of Kershaw’s relief appearance was magnified when Madison Bumgarner pinch-hit.
He received a standing ovation in what was likely his final at-bat as a member of the Giants and received more cheers after lining out to third base after seeing all fastballs. Kershaw tipped his cap, acknowledging Bumgarner and Giants manager Bruce Bochy.
Joe Kelly entered in the sixth for his first appearance since Sept. 18. He only needed six pitches to retire two batters, then gave way to Adam Kolarek for the third out of the inning. Julio Urias worked around a walk and single in the eighth, and Ross Stripling stranded a leadoff single in the ninth inning.
They were the only Dodgers relief pitchers to allow a hit on the afternoon.
