San Francisco Giants defeated by LA in 14th inning walk-off

Aug 31, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants right fielder Marlon Byrd (6) hits an RBI double during the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

When the San Francisco Giants play the Dodgers, Giants fans seem more intense and invested in each pitch of the ball and each swing of the bat. Which is difficult to imagine, because Giants fans didn’t earn the nickname “the lunatic fringe” by quietly sitting by when the Giants play any team.

But the Giants/Dodgers rivalry is one for the history books and one for the ages. Monday night’s game was no exception. It was emotionally charged and pure, unadulterated Giants torture. And it didn’t end in the ninth. They dragged it into extra innings.

The Dodgers scored first in the bottom of the first. But the Giants came back with a vengeance.

The third inning started off with Gregor Blanco’s base hit, but he was out at second when Jake Peavy hit into a force out, reaching first on a fielder’s choice. Nori Aoki drew a walk, Matt Duffy hit a single and Peavy scored on Brandon Belt’s base hit. Game tied.

Marlon Byrd has quickly become a fan favorite with his ability to come through with hits‒a lot. And he came through with a nice single‒two out thunder‒that had enough on it to score both Aoki and Duffy. Game no longer tied.

The Dodgers pulled ahead in the sixth with a couple of long balls, taking Peavy out of the game. Peavy had a pretty good night until then. He went five and ⅔ innings, pitching solid for most of it, allowing four runs (two were home runs) and six hits, while he struck out four. He didn’t allow any free passes.

The Giants weren’t ready to go away quietly. In the eighth Duffy led off with a walk, stole second and scored on Byrd’s two out thunder double, tying the game.

Both teams went through their bull pens like a hot knife through butter as the game went into extra innings. 14 innings. Five hours and 29 minutes of baseball.

The Giants held on‒not allowing a run to score‒but then again, so did the Dodgers. When it got to the 14^th inning, with just a couple of pitchers left in the bullpen, manager Bruce Bochy handed Mike Broadway the ball for the Giants.

After Broadway loaded the bases, Bochy brought in Yusmeiro Petit to see what he could do. On the first pitch he served up, the Dodgers first baseman, Adrian Gonzalez, hit a line drive single to left for the walk-off win. Game over. The final score was: Giants 4, Dodgers 5

I’m tired, bleary-eyed, disappointed and…did I mention tired? It’s almost one o’clock in the morning and I’ve been watching baseball for five and ½ hours.

I’m so glad I get to do it again tonight. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.