Strong pitching and a balanced attack led by Max Muncy and Justin Turner propelled the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 9-1 win over the San Francisco Giants. Dating back to last season, the Dodgers have now won six in a row against the Giants.
Coming off a stellar showing during Summer Camp, Ross Stripling put together a dominant start. He scattered four hits over seven innings, with being a solo homer in the third inning that cut the Dodgers’ lead in half.
Stripling allowed just two hits after that point, with one skipping of Turner’s glove. He wiped that out by inducing a double play and followed it up with a strikeout to end a quick sixth inning.
As Stripling kept the Giants in check, the Dodgers continued to add to their lead in the middle innings.
Turner’s run-scoring double in the fourth gave him two RBI on the night, Will Smith’s sacrifice fly in the fifth created more separation, and having already clubbed a home run in the first inning, Muncy went the other way for his second blast of the night in the sixth.
L.A. scored two more runs in the seventh inning, which for all intents and purposes put the game out of reach.
Jake McGee was the first relief pitcher out of the Dodgers bullpen, and his second appearance (first during the regular season) went much smoother than the unofficial debut. McGee worked around a walk to complete a scoreless eighth inning, then handed the ball over to Dylan Floro for the ninth.
Alex Wood finding a new routine
New health and safety protocols this season in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have required players to make an array of adjustments.
For Alex Wood, it means pushing up his traditional routine by one day. “I think the hardest part will be the mental preparation side. We’re not really allowed access to computers,” Wood said.
“They’re having to send all the information we’re going to be getting to prepare for whoever we’re playing. So that part will be a little strange as far as the day-of routine. The rest of it shouldn’t be too big of a deal.
“My day-of routine is get to the park, look at the lineup, evaluate the hitters and the rest of the guys after that. You kind of have your exact time, your exact game plan of how you go about preparing for those guys, using all the data they provide us. It’s probably going to make it so I have to prepare more the day before, so there’s less to worry about the day of.”
Wood makes his 2020 debut with an opportunity to push the Dodgers to 3-0 on the young season.
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