Major League Baseball
LA Dodgers 2, San Francisco 1
When: 4:05 PM ET, Saturday, July 29, 2017
Where: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California
Temperature: 84°
Umpires: Home - Alfonso Marquez, 1B - Larry Vanover, 2B - Chad Whitson, 3B - David Rackley
Attendance: 47792

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers are 42 games above .500 for the first time in 43 years. They have won 38 of their last 44 games overall and 25 of their last 28 games at home.

But despite those gaudy numbers, they take nothing for granted. That's why veteran left-hander Rich Hill can understand being pulled from his start in the sixth inning Saturday despite allowing just two hits and making 86 pitches, and why Cody Bellinger feels blessed to be hitting behind Corey Seager and Justin Turner.

Hill went 5 2/3 innings for his eighth win in a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants, his seventh straight stout outing. He retired the first 11 Giants he faced and has allowed just 27 hits and eight earned runs in his last 43 innings, a taut 1.67 ERA.

Seager had three hits, including doubles in the first and third, and scored both runs on RBI singles by Bellinger.

The bullpen pitched the final 3 1/3 innings, Kenley Jansen working around a little trouble in the ninth for his 27th save.

"It's all part of the process,'' said Hill, who chafes to pitch nine innings every start. "You see how we're all putting in the work, with a consistent voice. Everyone stays true to it because we always think we can be better. You look back at what we've done and seen how we've succeeded."

Hill turned himself into a starter three seasons ago and wants to be a guy who can be as consistent as ace Clayton Kershaw. But playing the percentages has worked handsomely.

"For me, I just want to go longer in games because at some point of the season we'll need it,'' he said.

Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said, "Rich didn't have the fastball command that he usually has, but he never stopped attacking."

Hill gave up a solo home run to Hunter Pence in the fourth inning, and there were two outs in the sixth when Pence came up again. Roberts summoned Pedro Baez, who got a soft fly.

Bellinger increased his RBI total to 69 with his RBI singles, both coming against Giants left-handed starter Ty Blach.

"I don't know why I hit left-handers well," Bellinger said. "I feel comfortable against them. I have a tendency to pull off the ball against right-handers, and I stay balanced against left-handers.''

Seager hits left-handers well too. His two home runs Friday were against left-handers, as were all three of his hits Saturday.

"I watch Corey a lot, just the way he plays the game and stays focused,'' Bellinger said.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy spoke plainly about another tough loss in a season in which his team is 40-65 and 33 1/2 games behind the Dodgers.

"In this park, against that club, it was a great job,'' Bochy said of Blach. "We just didn't give him much offense. The bullpen had a hiccup Friday, the offense didn't hit today. That's sort of the way it's been all season. The pitching and offense rarely work together.''

The Giants had only two hits through eight innings, but they had chances. Brandon Crawford led off the fifth with a walk but was picked off first. The Giants had runners on the corners with two outs in the fifth, but Bochy did not hit for Blach, who struck out.

A walk and single by Crawford put two on with two outs in the ninth, but Jansen struck out Jae-gyun Hwang to end it.

NOTES: Giants 1B Brandon Belt did not play for the second straight game, still feeling pain in a wrist he injured while diving for a ball. ... C Nick Hundley was scheduled to start behind the plate but was a late scratch with a hand injury from a foul tip Friday night. ... Manager Bruce Bochy gave 2B Joe Panik, mired in a 6-for-41 slump, the day off. ... The Giants started five players who came into the game with a combined one home run and 30 RBIs this season. ... The Giants made a change in their rotation and LHP Madison Bumgarner will start Sunday's series finale instead of Matt Cain. ... Giants OF Carlos Moncrief made his major league debut and walked in the ninth inning. "They pitched him like he was (Barry) Bonds,'' Bochy said ... Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw played catch before the game and threw out of a pitching motion. No timetable on a return from his back muscle strain has been announced.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
San Francisco   LA Dodgers
Ty Blach Player Rich Hill
Loss W/L Win
7.0 IP 5.2
3 Strikeouts 3
8 Hits 2
2.57 ERA 1.59
Hitting
San Francisco   LA Dodgers
Brandon Crawford Player Corey Seager
1 Hits 3
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
1 TB 5
.333 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
San Francisco 4 1 8 .138 7 5 1 4 0 0
LA Dodgers 8 0 11 .276 15 5 2 3 0 1