One night after Alex Wood lamented his lack of aggression and credited the San Francisco Giants for having a lineup that is difficult on left-handers, Julio Urias experienced similar results in a 3-1 loss that dropped the Los Angeles Dodgers to .500 on the young season.
Urias did manage to grind through five innings and hold the Giants to just one run. That was despite allowing five hits and issuing three walks. He stranded a two-out single in first inning, and a walk with one out in the second.
A leadoff single followed by a walk led to San Francisco breaking through in the third inning. Urias picked up a strikeout and as he searched to induce a double play, Darin Ruf pulled an RBI single into left field.
Urias faced more trouble in the fifth inning when the first two batters again reached, but he wiggled out of it with a strikeout and double play. He exited with the game tied thanks to the Dodgers manufacturing a run.
Mookie Betts singled with one out in the third inning and later stole second base. Justin Turner then kept the inning alive by working a walk, and Cody Bellinger followed it with a game-tying RBI single into right field.
However, that would be it from the Dodgers’ vaunted lineup, as a battle of the bullpens went in the Giants’ favor.
Brusdar Graterol was greeted with a leadoff single in the sixth, gave up another base hit with one out, and a third in the inning as pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval put San Francisco ahead. Pedro Baez walked Ruf with one out in the seventh, which was cashed in on Donovan Solano’s two-out RBI single.
L.A. did manage to load the bases with two outs in the eighth inning, but they were left full by Kiké Hernandez. The Dodgers finished the night 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base.
There were curious decisions by manager Dave Roberts along the way, particularly in the late innings when he stuck with the likes of AJ Pollock, Hernandez and Chris Taylor in key moments rather than pinch-hitting with one of bevy of left-handed batters on the bench.
Though in Pollock’s case, he did atone for previous empty at-bats by leading off the bottom of the ninth with a double. It represented the first extra-base hit for either team.
Taxing with team
As the Dodgers prepare to embark on their first road trip of the season, Roberts indicated prior to first pitch that Zach McKinstry was the lone player who was decided on for the taxi squad. A decision was forthcoming on Rocky Gale or Keibert Ruiz for the mandated catcher, and multiple relief pitchers were being considered for the third and final spot.
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