Will Smith’s 2-run double leads the Dodgers past the Giants 6-4 in 10 innings

By JOSH DUBOW
AP Sports Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Will Smith hit a two-run double in the 10th inning to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 6-4 win over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night for their fourth straight victory this season over their rivals.

“These are always intense games,” Smith said. “The fans are into it. They’re trying to beat us. We’re trying to beat them. So it’s come down to who can execute. Tonight we were able to get them.”

Mookie Betts hit his 50th career leadoff homer and Kiké Hernández added a pinch-hit homer in the seventh inning to tie the game at 4 for Los Angeles.

The Dodgers then won it in the 10th when Smith hit a drive to center field off Taylor Rogers (1-2) to give Los Angeles the lead.

“We had a couple of other opportunities offensively, but it came down to that last inning and it was one big swing,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said.

Blake Treinen (1-0) picked pinch-runner Tyler Fitzgerald off of first as part of a scoreless ninth to get the win. J.P. Feyereisen got three outs for his first save.

The Dodgers extended a franchise record by allowing four runs or fewer in 20 straight games, winning 16 of them.

“We are playing the way we’re capable of playing,” Hernández said. “The key has been the starting pitching. The starting pitching has been outstanding. When we don’t take the lead early, they keep us in games. Our lineup is really good. Whenever they keep us in the game and whenever we’re not rolling early, we are always going to have a chance.”

Luis Matos, making his first start of the season in place of the injured Jung Hoo Lee, provided the bulk of the offense for the Giants when he hit a first-pitch curveball into the left-field seats off Yoshinobu Yamamoto for a three-run homer that made it 3-1 in the second.

Yamamoto then retired the next 12 batters before running into trouble in the sixth with back-to-back walks with one out. He retired the next batter before giving up an RBI single to Heliot Ramos that put the Giants up 4-3 and end Yamamoto’s night.

San Francisco starter Jordan Hicks allowed Betts’ leadoff homer and then only one other run in five innings, but got a no-decision when the bullpen couldn’t hold a 3-2 lead.

He was helped out by his defense in the fifth inning with right fielder Mike Yastrzemski robbing Betts of an extra-base hit with a diving catch that helped limit Los Angeles to one run in the inning on an RBI infield single by Shohei Ohtani, who was back in the lineup after sitting out Sunday’s game against San Diego, one day after experiencing back tightness.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Dodgers: OF Jason Heyward (back) will play the next two days for Triple-A Oklahoma City at Sacramento and then be re-evaluated to see if he’s ready to return.

Giants: Lee was placed on the IL with a dislocated left shoulder after crashing into the wall Sunday. Lee underwent an MRI on Monday and was set to meet with team doctors later in the day to determine the next steps of his recovery. … C Patrick Bailey came off the concussion list on Saturday but was scratched from the lineup the past two days with symptoms of a cold. Melvin said doctors want to make sure it is unrelated to the concussion before clearing Bailey to return.

UP NEXT

Gavin Stone (3-1, 3.55 ERA) is set to start the middle game of the series for the Dodgers against Keaton Winn (3-5, 5.63 ERA).

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb