*Photo from Maui News*
A much anticipated return to the mound was made. Robbie Ray had a strong start, Matt Chapman homered and drove in two runs, and the San Francisco defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-3 Wednesday in Los Angeles.
After losing the first two games of the series, the Giants picked up the win in game 3 to get back in the series, winning for just the 4th time in 10 games as the Giants sit 5 games under .500 at 49-54. The offense put the game away late on the back of a 6 run 8th inning.
San Francisco manager Bob Melvin said of the big inning "We haven't had too many of those. It’s nice to put a crooked number up. We felt good about who we had coming in the game for the last four innings. To put a crooked number like that, you’re able to not be so fine and every at-bat doesn’t mean potentially a disaster."
The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Will Smith scored on a bases loaded walk by Andy Pages. In the 4th, the Giants took a 2-1 lead on a solo home run by Chapman and an RBI single by Mike Yastrzemski. In the 8th, Yastrzemski and Patrick Bailey hit RBI singles to extend the Giants lead to 4-1.
Later in the inning, the Giants extended the lead to 8-1 on an RBI groundout by Jorge Soler, a two run single by Heliot Ramos, and an RBI single off the bat of Chapman. The Dodgers made it 8-2 in the bottom of the 8th on an RBI double from Freddie Freeman. In the 9th, Pages scored on a force out to make it an 8-3 game.
Ray made his first start since March of 2023 after undergoing Tommy John Surgery. In his first start in a Giants uniform, he pitched 5 no hit innings, walking two hitters and giving up one run while getting 8 strikeouts. It was the longest no hit bid by a Giants starter in his team debut in the expansion era.
Melvin said of Ray's start "It was a completely different guy in the second inning. A lot of times, you’ve been off that long, your adrenaline is pumping pretty quick, you're a little bit ahead of your arm, you’re trying to find your arm slot. Once he got through the first inning he settled in and was really good."
In relief of Ray, Ryan Walker pitched a scoreless 6th inning while Tyler Rogers delivered a scoreless 7th. Erik Miller allowed one run in the 8th and Taylor Rogers allowed one in the 9th while still closing out the win.
Getting the start for the Dodgers was Tyler Glasnow, who allowed two runs on 4 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings pitched, getting the loss. Anthony Banda pitched 1 1/3 innings before Yohan Ramirez allowed 5 runs in 2/3 of an inning. Joe Kelly allowed one run in one inning and Ryan Yarbrough pitched a scoreless 9th.
Dodgers utility player Chris Taylor said of facing Ray "He’s always had really good stuff and good fastball and then that slider plays right off of it in the same tunnel. He’s tough. When he’s on, you really just got to grind him out. I think we definitely missed an opportunity in the first inning."
Game 4 of the series is on Thursday afternoon. The Giants will look to split the series as Logan Webb takes the mound, while the Dodgers look to win the series as Clayton Kershaw gets the start in his season debut.
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