Joe Panik's sacrifice fly in the ninth sent the San Francisco Giants to a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night.
Buster Posey singled with one out in the ninth off Chris Hatcher (0-2) and advanced when Hatcher plunked Justin Maxwell. J.P. Howell relieved Hatcher and allowed a single to Brandon Belt which loaded the bases.
Panik, pinch hitting for Joaquin Arias, lifted a fly ball out to right center that scored Gregor Blanco, who was running for Posey. Santiago Casilla (1-0) grabbed the win for pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
The game marked the first time in MLB history that the reigning Most Valuable Player, Los Angeles' Clayton Kershaw, toed the rubber against the reigning World Series MVP in San Francisco's Madison Bumgarner.
It was just the fourth time the two southpaws opposed each other and to no surprise they did not disappoint.
Kershaw scattered three hits and allowed two runs with nine strikeouts over six innings, while Bumgarner yielded two runs on six hits with six strikeouts in 6 1/3 frames.
Kershaw retired the first six batters he faced before Arias ripped a single into center to begin the third. Brandon Crawford then walked and Bumgarner moved both runners over with a sacrifice bunt. Aoki knocked Arias in with a groundout to short and Duffy followed with a single to center that made it 2-0.
Bumgarner did not deal with much trouble throughout the night, but the outing was cut short on his 109th pitch. A.J. Ellis poked a single into left with one out in the seventh and Dodgers manager Don Mattingly chose to pinch-hit for Kershaw. In stepped Alex Guerrero, who pounced on a 1-1 fastball and sent it into the left-field seats to tie the game and put an end to Bumgarner's night.
[SportsNetwork.com]
