LDN - Sports

Giants blank Dodgers but lose Crawford, Cueto

[September 21, 2016] LOS ANGELES -- Even when the San Francisco Giants win these days, bad news comes with it.

Solo homers by Eduardo Nunez in the fifth inning and Brandon Belt in the ninth held up for San Francisco in a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night.

Though the Giants snapped a three-game losing streak, it came with a price: Winning pitcher Johnny Cueto (17-5) left the game in the sixth inning with a groin strain, and standout shortstop Brandon Crawford exited with a dislocated left pinkie finger.

"We don't really know where they are (in terms of a return timetable); they're both really day-to-day," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said after the game. "Johnny is going to get an MRI in the morning, and we'll have to see what happens. We're hoping for the best. It's really day-to-day with Crawford, and with Johnny, we'll see."

Regardless, the Giants (80-71) managed to pull back within five games of the Dodgers (85-66) in the National League West with 11 games left. The New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals are also 80-71, leaving them and the Giants in a three-way tie for the two NL wild-card spots.

San Francisco evened the three-game set with the Dodgers ahead of the series finale Wednesday.

"It's going to be a dogfight the rest of the way," Bochy said. "But tonight we grinded one out and got the job done, and that's a good start."

Despite the injury, Cueto managed to win his third consecutive start. He scattered eight hits and two walks while striking out six over 5 1/3 innings. Three Giants relievers held Los Angeles to one hit the rest of the way, with righty Sergio Romo striking out two in a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his first save.

Trouble struck for the Giants in the top of the second, as they ran their way out of a threat and came out of it with an injury. Crawford, the team's leading RBI man with 80, was thrown out trying to go from first to third on a two-out single by Belt and had to leave the game with a dislocated left pinky.

In the fourth, Dodgers starter Rich Hill (3-2) got out of a bases-loaded jam. Buster Posey and Hunter Pence both singled and Joe Panik drew a two-out walk. However, Belt was caught looking at a 1-2 pitch to end the inning.

San Francisco finally broke through in the fifth, as Nunez roped a 1-1 pitch just over the 360-foot mark in left field for his 16th home run of the season. Initially called a triple, the hit was quickly ruled a homer upon review.

"I wasn't surprised they called it (a home run)" Bochy said. "I knew when he hit it. But you never know what they're going to call, so I was a little nervous."

Hill, the hard-luck loser, took his second consecutive defeat. He allowed one run on six hits and a walk in five innings, and he fanned seven. It was his shortest stint in his five starts with the Dodgers.

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Giants center fielder Gorkys Hernandez (66) high-fives teammate Hunter Pence (right) at the conclusion of the Giants 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

"It's disappointing. I made one mistake to Nunez, and he did what he should have done with the pitch," Hill said. "I take 100 percent responsibility for this. You can't miss like that at this level."

The Dodgers left a runner in scoring position in each of the first three innings and again in the fifth. In the latter, Cueto induced a popup from slugger Adrian Gonzalez with two men on.

Los Angeles stranded 10 runners in the game and went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

"Obviously, you want to win them all," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "This was just a well-pitched ballgame, and unfortunately we came up short."

NOTES: The Dodgers are making fun of the Monday scuffle between Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner and Los Angeles RF Yasiel Puig. On Tuesday, Puig and 1B Adrian Gonzalez tweeted pictures of several Dodgers in the clubhouse wearing T-shirts reading "#DONTLOOKATME," the words Bumgarner uttered at Puig. ... The Dodgers reinstated LHP Alex Wood from the 60-day disabled list on Tuesday. Wood, 25, had been out since May 31 due to a posterior impingement in his left elbow, and he underwent an arthroscopic debridement on July 20. To make space for Wood on the 25- and 40-man rosters, the Dodgers designated RHP Bud Norris (3-3, 6.54 ERA) for assignment. ... The Giants' 2-1 defeat to Los Angeles on Monday was the fifth time in September that they lost after leading through eight innings. ... There was a sellout crowd of 53,621 at Dodger Stadium for Vin Scully bobblehead night. That marked the largest regular-season crowd in the majors since Aug. 30, 2012 -- which was also at Dodger Stadium, and also a Scully bobblehead giveaway. It was the Dodgers' sixth sellout of the season.

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