Two rain delays sent Monday’s series opener at AT&T Park into the wee hours of Tuesday morning, and all the Los Angeles Dodgers had to show for it was an 8-6 defeat at the hands of the San Francisco Giants.
The loss was the Dodgers’ 11th in a row, which is their longest skid in Los Angeles franchise history, and they’ve now dropped 16 of the last 17 games. During the 17-game stretch, opponents have scored first in 14 games and in the first inning on nine occasions.
After a combined delay time of three hours and 44 minutes, the game with the Giants unfolded as one might expect. The Dodgers’ signs of life were offset by a bullpen that failed to protect a lead after Kenta Maeda only pitched three innings.
Singles by Cody Bellinger and Puig put two on with nobody out, and Yasmani Grandal walked to load the bases with one out. In a break from what’s been his approach throughout the season, Logan Forsythe swung at the first pitch and pulled an RBI single into left field.
Chris Taylor pinch-hit for Maeda and blooped an RBI single to center field. Corey Seager’s line drive cleared Panik’s leaping attempt at a catch and carried into right field for a two-run, go-ahead base hit. The four-run inning was reminiscent of previous success the Dodgers have enjoyed this season.
Puig’s solo home run in the top of the fifth broke a tie, but RBI singles by Span and Buster Posey gave San Francisco the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Seager’s two-out walk in the sixth was followed by Justin Turner’s game-tying double.
After scoring four runs in the fourth inning, and one in the fifth and sixth, the Dodgers failed to scratch over the final three innings. Their best look came in the seventh, when two batters reached, but pinch-hitter Andre Ethier struck out to end the inning.
The Giants jumped on Maeda early, with Denard Span hitting a two-run home run into McCovey Cove in the first inning, and Jarrett Parker falling short of the water but clearing the right-field wall for a leadoff homer in the second.
Maeda encountered more trouble and some bad luck in the third inning. Yasiel Puig had a read on Hunter Pence’s drive to right-center field but backpedaled into the portion of the brick wall that juts out, and was unable to make the catch.
Pence’s leadoff triple was cashed in by Joe Panik on a groundout, giving the Giants a 4-0 lead. Maeda was lifted after just three innings, as Dodgers manager Dave Roberts began to aggressively utilize pinch-hitters in the fourth in effort to keep a rally alive.
Pedro Baez allowed three singles in the seventh, including one to Pence that plated a go-ahead run. Posey’s RBI double off Tony Watson in the bottom of the seventh was the final bit of insurance for the Giants.
Even with their loss, the Dodgers’ magic number was again lowered — now at 10 — as the Arizona Diamondbacks fell to the Colorado Rockies.
