Whicker: Weather, occasion suit Giants just fine in Game 3 victory over Dodgers

LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers are trying to play Survivor without lumber.

If you’d told them they would clasp San Francisco to 3 hits and 1 tally successful Game 3 of the National League Division Series connected Monday night, they would person thanked you profusely. They did precisely that and inactive lost, 1-0, and present way the best-of-five series, 2-1.

The roster that erstwhile bulged with starting pitching options present has to number connected Tony Gonsolin to pb a parade of relievers successful a must-win Game 4. The Giants aren’t overmuch amended off, but they’ve prospered successful each condition truthful far.

For those who ne'er had the privilege of experiencing shot successful San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, this was arsenic adjacent arsenic Los Angeles tin manage. The winds arrived successful the precocious day and took distant thing that wasn’t pocketed. A crisp dip successful the thermometer (i.e., it plummeted into the 60s) besides took the pharynx retired of the archetypal Dodger Stadium assemblage astatine an NLDS crippled since Howie Kendrick sent them location muttering 2 years ago.

But the Giants besides provided immoderate silencers. One looked familiar.

Alex Wood was a productive left-hander for the Dodgers from 2015 done 2018. In Game 4 of the 2017 World Series astatine Houston, Wood was masterful for 5-2/3 innings, giving the Astros 1 deed successful Minute Maid Park (apparently the garbage cans were being polished that night).

Wood went to Cincinnati aft 2018, made a abbreviated drop-in successful Dodger Stadium to assistance them triumph the 2020 World Series, and surfaced successful San Francisco, wherever helium went 10-4 this play with a 3.83 ERA. The Giants got him to propulsion much sliders successful summation to his old-school sinking fastball, the 1 that dovetailed nicely with San Francisco’s infield defense. But fewer could person anticipated however efficaciously Wood would transportation Monday night.

He was lifted aft 4-2/3 innings and 83 pitches. Both L.A. hits were singles by Albert Pujols.

Max Scherzer was predictably superb aft his shaky show successful past Wednesday’s wild-card commencement against the St. Louis Cardinals. He didn’t person large fastball bid successful the archetypal inning, and helium had to abort 1 transportation successful mid-windup erstwhile a gust arrived. But Scherzer got that straightened retired and started getting outs with his cutter and his slider.

He struck retired 5 of the archetypal 10 Giants helium faced and yielded lone 2 singles successful his archetypal 4 innings. Then helium got an 0-and-2 number connected 36-year-old Evan Longoria and thought he’d effort to powerfulness his mode past the St. John Bosco and Long Beach State alum.

It turned retired to beryllium a consecutive fastball that Longoria pounded into the near tract pavilion, someway getting it nether the wind, for a 1-0 Giants’ lead.

Has it been a while? Longoria’s archetypal playoff acquisition was 13 years agone with Tampa Bay, wherever helium was a teammate of rookie David Price and helped the Rays to their archetypal World Series. This was the 10th playoff location tally successful his career.

Scherzer held the Giants to 3 hits and 1 locomotion successful 7 innings.

When the Giants lifted Wood, it meant their bullpen had to get 13 outs successful a ballpark wherever the location squad had won 16 consecutive and grows vampire teeth arsenic the evening gets later. The archetypal worker was Tyler Rogers, a submarining right-hander whose duplicate member Taylor pitches for the Twins. Taylor attended Games 1-2 successful San Francisco, and respective fans wondered wherefore helium wasn’t successful the location bullpen.

Rogers got 5 of those outs but gave up back-to-back singles to pinch-hitter Steven Souza and Will Smith successful the seventh inning.

That was the cue for Jake McGee, the accustomed closer. McGee blew distant pinch-hitter Austin Barnes, but Mookie Betts laced a enactment thrust connected the archetypal transportation helium saw. Crawford, getting immoderate lift, reached up to stab it and render yet different high-velocity Dodgers’ thrust meaningless.

The Giants’ adjacent determination was Camilo Doval, a rookie right-hander who had captured the club’s religion successful a abbreviated play of time. He was astatine Triple-A Sacramento for overmuch of 2021 and had an unsightly locomotion complaint of 7 per 9 innings. But erstwhile helium came backmost up, Doval struck retired 37 successful 27-1/3 innings and had 3 saves. In 15 September appearances, helium gave up 7 hits and nary earned runs.

Accustomed to throwing 100 mph, Doval was much subtle successful his 1-2-3 eighth inning, striking retired nary but getting Trea Turner and Justin Turner connected sliders.

Doval made it 4-5-6 successful the ninth inning, getting pinch-hitter Gavin Lux connected a heavy alert to halfway for the 27th out.

The Dodgers retreated to their campfire, hoping to find immoderate histrion limbs and driftwood successful the morning.