Vargas debuts, drives home two as Dodgers beat Giants
SAN FRANCISCO » Even the second-best MLB debut of this road trip was pretty good.
When Miguel Vargas was told to head to San Francisco to join the Dodgers this week, he thought it was just to be on the taxi squad as the Dodgers waited to see how their trade-deadline efforts would play out. He was at the airport, waiting to board his plane when he got another call — he would be added to the active roster for the first time.
His mother, Ivon, father, Lazaro (a legendary baseball player in Cuba), three brothers and a girlfriend all raced from Miami to be at Oracle Park for Miguel's debut.
“I think they're more excited than I am,” Vargas said in Spanish before the game.
Legions of Dodgers fans were nearly as excited, having anticipated the arrival of the organization's top hitting prospect. Vargas did not match James Outman's historic debut Sunday in Colorado — a home run in his first MLB at-bat, three hits in his first game — but he didn't disappoint either.
Vargas doubled in his first at-bat and drove in the Dodgers' first two runs, backing Julio Urias' six scoreless innings in a 3-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night.
The win was the Dodgers' 26th in their past 31 games — and their seventh in a row over the Giants since the All-Star break.
Starting at DH, Vargas' major-league career started with one out in the second inning after Trayce Thompson had walked and stole second. Vargas got a 2-and-2 fastball from Giants starter Alex Cobb up over the plate and torched it, 106.1 mph off the bat, into the right-center field gap. It hopped over the wall for a ground-rule double.
Two innings later, Max Muncy led off with a single and worked his way to third base with one out when Vargas came up. He chopped a ball to third baseman JD Davis who made a nice play to smother the ball then threw home. But Muncy slid under the tag of Giants catcher Joey Bart to score the Dodgers' second run.
The Dodgers added a third run in the seventh inning without Vargas' help. Outman and Austin Barnes singled and Mookie Betts drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Urias was cruising by then. He retired the first 11 Giants in order (striking out five of them) and 17 of the first 19.
The Dodgers left-hander ran into trouble in the seventh, though. The Giants loaded the bases with three consecutive singles (one an infield hit, another off shortstop Trea Turner's glove).
For the second consecutive night, Evan Phillips found himself in a basesloaded, no-outs situation with the game in the balance. And for the second consecutive night, he escaped untouched.
Phillips struck out Dixon Machado on three pitches then got pinch-hitter Mike Yastrzemski to hit a pop up to shallow right field. Betts raced in — and Luis Gonzalez raced away from second base. He was doubled off easily when Betts made the catch, ending the threat.
But the Giants got the tying run to the plate again in the ninth against Craig Kimbrel thanks to a one-out walk and a single bounced through the left side. Kimbrel loaded the bases by hitting LaMonte Wade Jr. with a pitch then got Yastrzemski to pop out and struck out Austin Slater on a favorable third strike call to end the game.
The Dodgers won despite Betts, Turner and Freddie Freeman combining to go 0 for 11. It is the first time in 85 games together this season that the trio has gone hitless.