Posey's walk-off single lifts Giants over Dodgers
Buster Posey greeted Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Pedro Baez with a two-out, walk-off single in the ninth inning Wednesday night, delivering the host San Francisco Giants a 2-1 victory over their National League West rival.
The win was the Giants' second in the three-game series and came two innings after manager Bruce Bochy was ejected for arguing balls and strikes.
With one out in the ninth, Steven Duggar's third hit of the game and a single by Gerardo Parra put two on for the Giants before Brandon Belt struck out.
The Dodgers then opted for the right-handed Baez to face Posey, who stroked his game-winner to left field, with Duggar beating Chris Taylor's strong throw to the plate.
Giants closer Will Smith (1-0), who worked out of a two-on jam of his own in the top of the ninth, was credited with the win.
Julio Urias (2-2), who began the ninth for the Dodgers, took the loss.
The Giants nearly put up a big number in the first inning when Duggar led off against Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu with a single and Tyler Austin followed with a double.
Belt then crushed one to the deepest part of the ballpark, but Dodgers right fielder Cody Bellinger tracked it down more than 400 feet from home plate, turning the near-three-run homer into a long sacrifice fly.
With a runner at third base and one out, Ryu then escaped further damage by getting Posey to ground softly to shortstop and Evan Longoria to fly out to left field.
Ryu allowed only two more hits and no more runs in his eight-inning stint. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.
The Dodgers used the speed of Enrique Hernandez to draw even in the sixth inning against Giants starter Madison Bumgarner, who had a two-hit shutout going through five.
Hernandez doubled to lead off the inning, and he was still at second base with two outs when first baseman Belt made a diving stop on Bellinger's hard grounder down the first base line.
Bumgarner never got to the base to cover, allowing Bellinger to reach safely, and as Belt was throwing the ball to his pitcher halfway between the mound and first base, Hernandez, who had been running on the pitch, sprinted around third and scored the tying run standing up.
Bumgarner left a tie game after six innings, charged with one run and four hits. He walked two and struck out eight.
Bochy's ejection came in the seventh inning when he complained about a called strike with Posey at the plate. He was issued a warning by plate umpire Tim Timmons, then thrown out after continuing to verbally display his disapproval.
Hernandez and Alex Verdugo had two hits apiece for the Dodgers, who beat the Giants twice in a three-game series at Los Angeles last month.
--Field Level Media
