Julio Urias made the Giants pay early and often Saturday night in Game 2 of the National League Division Series at Oracle Park.
The Los Angeles Dodgers' 20-game winner took the mound against Giants starter Kevin Gausman. The two went head-to-head for most of their respective outings, but it was an RBI single from Urias himself that gave the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead.
In the top of the second inning, Chris Taylor doubled with one out, which forced the Giants to walk eighth-place hitter AJ Pollock in order to get to the pitcher's spot, a fairly routine strategy nearly every National League team in the league utilizes consistently.
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Urias had other plans, roping a base hit to right field to drive in the first run of the game.
After the game, Pollock discussed the Giants' decision to walk him to get to Urias, which he believes was a mistake.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler was asked following the loss about walking Pollock in order to face Urias and believed it had been the right decision and would do it again if necessary.
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Pitchers are notoriously below average hitters. Even some of the league's best hitting pitchers, like Madison Bumgarner for example, are still highly ineffective at the plate compared to the lineup's one-through-eight hitters. On the other hand, sometimes hits fall, as did the one from Urias on Saturday night.
That one run was followed by another Dodgers run in the second inning, and then many many more runs later on in the game.
It wasn't a back-breaking result by any means, but surrendering an RBI single to the opposing team's pitcher in a highly contested NLDS game is far from ideal.