The Los Angeles Dodgers may be tied with the Houston Astros for the best record in baseball entering Tuesday, but that does not stop players like Austin Barnes from feeling disappointment after a 3-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Monday.
The Giants, who are in town for a four-game series at Dodger Stadium, are in the midst of a full rebuild with a 31-39 record on the season. However, they have played the Dodgers tough in 2019, going 5-5 thus far in their head-to-head matchups.
The Dodgers had just played two primetime games against the Chicago Cubs to finish another four-game series in the midst of what will be an 18-game stretch without an off day. Therefore, it would make sense if the team felt out of whack heading into Monday’s matchup with the Giants, leading to the uncharacteristic loss.
While Barnes admitted that Monday’s game felt off for him, he said on SportsNet LA that it did not give the Dodgers an excuse to let it slip away:
“It felt like the rhythm of the game was kind of weird today but there’s no excuses. We had chances to win that game. Even the other run they scored was kind of a funky one. But, yeah, we should’ve won that game, I felt. We have to get across another run and win.”
The Giants’ win came thanks to some command struggles and a botched double play attempt. After Julio Urias walked the first two batters he faced in the sixth inning, Stephen Vogt hit a grounder to Matt Beaty at first base.
Beaty threw to second for the force out, but Chris Taylor’s throw back to first went into the Giants dugout as neither Urias nor Beaty was covering the bag. That allowed Tyler Austin to score and give the Giants a 3-1 lead.
That run would end up deciding the game as the Dodgers got one back in the bottom of the eighth on a Cody Bellinger double and Max Muncy single off former teammate Tony Watson.
The biggest surprise of the game, though, was that the Dodgers only managed one run and two hits in six innings against Giants starter Tyler Beede, who entered with zero Major League wins and an ERA above eight.
The Dodgers’ eighth-inning rally against Watson was the closest they would get to tying the game.
