The Los Angeles Dodgers closed out the first half of the season on a high note, earning a 5-2 extra-inning victory over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park. Freddie Freeman’s two-out RBI single in the 11th inning proved to be the difference in a game that had remained deadlocked since the ninth.
Entering the contest as slight favorites, the Dodgers were listed at -120 on the moneyline, while the Giants stood at +100. The over/under for total runs was set at 8.5. Despite a slow offensive start, the game hit the over by the 11th frame.
Freeman’s decisive hit, a bloop single into shallow right-center, scored automatic runner James Outman to break the 2-2 tie. The play came after Spencer Bivens (2-3) had intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to open the inning. Bivens managed to retire Mookie Betts and Will Smith, but Freeman’s hit landed between converging defenders to bring home the go-ahead run.
The Dodgers added two more runs in the frame. Teoscar Hernández beat out an infield single that brought home another, followed by an RBI single from rookie Andy Pages that widened the margin to 5-2. Ben Casparius (7-3) earned the win for Los Angeles, retiring the side in order in the 11th after ending the 10th by inducing a groundout from Willy Adames.
The game had appeared headed for a Dodgers win in regulation before San Francisco rallied in the bottom of the ninth. Tanner Scott, attempting to secure the save, surrendered a two-run pinch-hit homer to Luis Matos after allowing a one-out single to Matt Chapman. The homer was Matos’ first of the season and tied the game at two.
Miguel Rojas opened the scoring earlier with a solo home run in the third inning, and Freeman contributed an RBI double in the fifth, staking the Dodgers to a 2-0 lead.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, making his final start before heading to the All-Star Game as a first-time selection, delivered a strong performance. The right-hander allowed just three hits and no runs over seven innings while striking out seven. San Francisco’s Robbie Ray matched him for much of the game, limiting the Dodgers to two runs and five hits over six innings.
Shohei Ohtani reached base twice for Los Angeles, walking in the fourth and singling in the fifth. He narrowly missed an extra-base hit to start the game, when Giants left fielder Heliot Ramos made a leaping catch at the wall.
The win lifted the Dodgers to 58-39, keeping them atop the National League West heading into the All-Star break. It also marked back-to-back victories for Los Angeles following a season-worst seven-game losing streak. San Francisco, meanwhile, fell to 52-45 but still concluded the first half with 52 wins for the fifth time in the past two decades.
Neither team has announced its post-break pitching rotation. The Dodgers will open a six-game homestand Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers, while the Giants begin a road trip in Toronto.