The San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 19-3 Saturday night. The offensive onslaught set a record for runs scored against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
Hunter Pence led the hit parade. He drove in seven runs, four of which came on a grand slam. Pence has been on a hot streak recently with 16 runs batted in in his last five game . The last Giant to drive in seven runs in a game was Barry Bonds in 1993.
Big first baseman Brandon Belt drove in another six runs, including a two run home run in the seventh inning. Thirteen runs weren’t enough for the Giants though. Pablo Sandoval , Gregor Blanco, Brandon Crawford, Johnny Monnell, and Ehire Adrianza made sure there were more players left on the field than fans in the stands by the game’s end.
For the Giants, the 19 run outbreak had to exercise some of this season’s demons. After sweeping the Tigers in the World Series, San Francisco fell apart this year and sit in fourth place in the NL West.
Even though the season is over in San Francisco, that doesn’t mean the games are less meaningful. Winning tonight assured the Dodgers would not clinch a playoff berth against their rivals in Los Angeles. The faster the Dodgers clinch, the faster they can begin to rest their players for October. They’ll have to wait at least one more game now.
The win also gives Giant fans one good moment as the season closes out. For one night fans in San Francisco can celebrate the worst defeat in Dodger history. The previous high in runs scored against Los Angeles was 16 in 1961.
Now it becomes the job of San Francisco to find a way to keep Hunter Pence. After this year he will be a free agent. He has expressed interest to return to the Giants but will test the market. His power surge at the end of this season is only going to drive up his price.
Are you surprised about the Giants 19 run onslaught in Los Angeles?
[image via Wikimedia Commons ]