The Los Angeles Dodgers used superior pitching to hand the rival San Francisco Giants a second straight home defeat, riding right-hander Walker Buehler’s gem to a 6-3 victory on Saturday afternoon.
Max Muncy and Austin Barnes hit solo home runs for the Dodgers, giving Buehler (3-0) an early cushion en route to the club’s sixth straight win.
Muncy’s homer — which landed in the San Francisco Bay well over the right field wall — came off 37-year-old Scott Kazmir (0-1), a three-time All-Star and former 15-game winner who was pitching in the majors for the first time since 2016.
Given the unenviable task of following up Trevor Bauer’s 11-strikeout performance a night earlier, Buehler extended his personal scoreless streak to 14 innings before the Giants scored in the seventh.
The right-hander was pulled at inning’s end, having allowed one run and six hits. He walked one and struck out five.
Muncy gave the Dodgers a lead they never relinquished when he belted Kazmir’s 13th pitch in the first for his ninth homer of the season.
Barnes’ homer, his first, came four innings later off Giants reliever Jarlin Garcia, doubling the Dodgers’ advantage.
Los Angeles again doubled its lead in a two-run seventh against a third Giants pitcher, Nick Tropeano, on a single by Gavin Lux, a double by Matt Beaty and a single by DJ Peters.
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Kazmir, who was promoted earlier in the day from Triple-A Sacramento, was charged with one run on two hits in four innings. He struck out two and didn’t issue a walk.
After the Giants finally got to Buehler for a single run in the seventh on an RBI single by Alex Dickerson, each team added a pair in the eighth to account for the final score.
Albert Pujols and Barnes drove in the Los Angeles runs in the top of the eighth before Buster Posey belted a two-run homer off Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia, his ninth of the season, in the bottom of the inning.
Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his 11th save.
Muncy had three hits and scored twice for the Dodgers, who out-hit the Giants 9-7. Peters added a single and a double.
–Field Level Media