Mookie Betts, Max Muncy Help Dodgers Cruise Past Giants, Improve to 2-0

Make it 2-0 for the Los Angeles Dodgers to begin the 2020 season.

The club that has won the National League West in each of the last seven years is off to another promising start after a 9-1 win over the rival San Francisco Giants on Friday at Dodger Stadium.

The victory secured at least a split in the four-game series following an 8-1 rout Thursday.

Ross Stripling made the start for L.A., reentering the rotation following David Price's decision to opt out of this season. The 30-year-old right-hander pitched seven innings of four-hit ball with seven strikeouts as Max Muncy and Mookie Betts provided all the run support he needed.

Notable Performers

Ross Stripling, RHP, Los Angeles Dodgers: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 7 K, 0 BB, 1 HR

Max Muncy, 1B, Los Angeles Dodgers: 4 AB, 3 R, 3 H, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 HR

Justin Turner, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers: 4 AB, 0 R, 2 H, 2 RBI, 1 BB

Jaylin Davis, RF, San Francisco Giants: 3 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 1 HR 

Stripling Steps Up 

The Dodgers didn't consider Stripling their best option for the starting rotation back in spring training before the pandemic put baseball on hiatus. 

When the season finally started four months after originally scheduled, Los Angeles turned to him on the mound for Game 2. It was an opportunity the right-hander wouldn't waste. 

Stripling tossed 92 pitches over seven nearly flawless innings. He recorded 64 strikes and picked up the win one night after L.A. used five pitchers to get past San Francisco. Jake McGee and Dylan Floro each put in an inning of work Friday, but the heavy lifting was already taken care of.

It's a position Stripling wouldn't likely have been in had Price decided to play this season.

"Obviously, you want the nod as a starter," Stripling said after he was reinserted into the rotation, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. "Because you kind of earn something when you get that nod."

What he earned Friday was more confidence that he can be relied on every fifth day. 

Stripling gave up just four hits and no walks with seven strikeouts as he mowed down the Giants with ease. 

The only mistake came when San Francisco rookie Jaylin Davis notched the Giants' first home run of the season to lead off the third inning. Stripling then went groundout-strikeout-groundout to end the frame, though Wilmer Flores reached on a fielding error after the first out.

As the Dodgers hope to make another postseason run, Stripling is showing he can be a major factor.

Muncy Goes Yard Twice 

However comfortable Stripling felt on the mound, first baseman Max Muncy had to feel even better at the plate. 

After hitting 35 home runs in each of the last two years, Muncy got himself going early Friday with a solo shot in the first inning, followed by another in the bottom of the sixth. 

Both came off four-seam fastballs that broke over the middle of the plate. The first was thrown by Tyler Anderson, the second by Kevin Gausman. Both ended up over the fence in center field. 

Mookie Betts notched his first RBI one night after recording his first hit as a Dodger, while Chris Taylor and Will Smith added some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but all Los Angeles needed to get past the Giants was the bat of Muncy. 

For the second night in a row, the Dodgers' lineup continued to bully the team's biggest rival.    

What's Next?

The series continues at 4:10 p.m. ET on Saturday. Julio Urias is expected to start for the Dodgers, while the Giants had yet to announce a starter as of Friday evening.