Game #7: San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (04/10/2016)

Following Saturday afternoon’s contest in which the Giants regrettably allowed a slim lead to slip from their grasp, San Francisco entered AT&T Park on Sunday clinging to the present opportunity of winning a rather intense series against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

And with newly-acquired ace Johnny Cueto atop the hill, San Francisco’s chances of securing the series victory seemed quite likely.

The top half of the first inning, however, brought unexpected catastrophe, and the Giants’ unlucky defensive unit quickly found themselves heading to the dugout to collect their bats, already facing an intimidating five-run deficit.

With Cueto struggling mightily, San Francisco was going to have to do everything in its collective power to trim into a relatively large Los Angeles lead against their veteran starter, left-hander Scott Kazmir.

And thankfully for San Francisco, Kazmir didn’t quite seem to be on top of his game on Sunday afternoon either.

In the bottom half of the first inning, the Giants’ expeditious rally was initiated.

Courtesy of RBIs from Brandon Belt and Matt Duffy (as well as a creative slide into home-plate by Hunter Pence, who had just run through a Roberto Kelly “stop sign”), San Francisco exited the bottom of the first inning now trailing by the score of 2-5.

And in the bottom of the third inning, this promising early comeback would be completed.

First, Buster Posey launched a one-out blast to left field to trim the deficit to two runs.

Later, Brandon Belt smashed a ball deep to straightaway center-field for a game-tying two-run shot.

With three innings completed, this wild and unpredictable contest was somehow dead-even at five apiece.

Nevertheless, in the top of the fourth, the Dodgers’ line-up struck against Johnny Cueto once more, when Corey Seager singled into center field, knocking in Chase Utley and giving Los Angeles a renewed 6-5 advantage.

Thankfully for San Francisco, that would be the final tally of the afternoon for the Dodgers.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Angel Pagan drove a home run to left-center field, evening the score once more at 6-6.

With Scott Kazmir now chased from the game, Giants’ starter Johnny Cueto had outlasted his counterpart pitcher in perhaps the wildest game of the series thus far.

And in the bottom of the sixth, San Francisco struck powerfully enough to propel the resilient Cueto to a well-deserved victory.

A critical swing of the bat from Joe Panik sent a ball deep into center field, allowing Angel Pagan and Denard Span to score, and giving the Giants an 8-6 advantage. 

Later in the inning, a sacrifice fly from Hunter Pence scored Joe Panik, as San Francisco took a commanding 9-6 lead.

And thanks to solid bullpen work from the likes of Sergio Romo, Josh Osich, and Santiago Casilla, San Francisco would hang on to that very lead to clinch a 3-1 series victory. 

The Giants will use tomorrow as a travel day, and begin anew in a series against the Colorado Rockies in the Mile High City on Tuesday evening.

FINAL SCORE: Giants 9, Dodgers 6.