The Los Angeles Dodgers showed more offensive punch but remained on a downward trend as they suffered an 8-7 loss to the San Francisco Giants in the series opener at Oracle Park. That extended the Dodgers’ season-worst losing streak to seven games.
Shohei Ohtani gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead in the third inning with his home run that landed in McCovey Cove. Ohtani’s splash hit was the eighth by a Dodgers player all-time and their first since Max Muncy in 2021, which led to exchanging words with Madison Bumgarner and the famed “go get it out of the ocean” quip.
The Giants then proceeded to break the game open, beginning with a two-run triple from Jung Hoo Lee in the fourth inning. Lee nearly added onto the Giants’ lead but he was thrown out by Michael Conforto on the tag play.
It appeared to be just a footnote as the Giants scored five runs in the fifth to take a comfortable 8-2 lead.
Dustin May pitched just 4.2 innings and was charged for seven runs. He tied a season high with four walks, a total May has now reached in three separate starts this year. The outing was significant regression from flirting with a no-hitter his last time out.
But just as it appeared the Giants would cruise to a win, Teoscar Hernández hit a two-run double and Conforto connected on a two-run homer in the sixth inning. The six runs Logan Webb gave up represented a season high.
The Dodgers’ comeback bid continued in the seventh thanks in part to a Lee misplay in deep center field that resulted in a two-out triple for Mookie Betts. Will Smith followed that with an RBI single up the middle to cut the Dodgers’ deficit to 8-7.
They never drew any closer, however, and stranded three baserunners over the final two innings. Included in that was putting the tying and go-ahead runs on base with one out in the ninth.
Dodgers’ losing streak facts
The seven runs are the most the Dodgers have scored during their seven-game losing streak. The Dodgers now have dropped seven in a row for the first time since Sept. 2-11, 2017, when they lost 11 consecutive games.
Their lead over the Giants for first place in the National League West is down to four games.
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