The San Francisco Giants spoiled Ice Cube bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium by extending the Los Angeles Dodgers’ losing streak to a season-high-tying four games.
The loss dropped the Dodgers back to a half-game behind the San Diego Padres for first place in the National League West. Meanwhile, the Giants have tied their best winning streak of the season at three games.
Giants 6, Dodgers 2: key takeaways
Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s home run problem
Yoshinobu Yamamoto began his start by retiring the first eight batters faced and he was staked a 1-0 lead in the process. His early bid for a perfect game ended when Eric Haase’s solo homer tied it. The home run was the first of the season for the Giants’ backup catcher and No. 9 hitter.
Yamamoto ran into more trouble with the bottom of the Giants lineup when Harrison Bader pulled a hanging splitter into the seats for a game-tying solo home run. Haase followed that by jumping on first-pitch fastball for a second homer in the game to give the Giants a 3-2 lead.
Up to that point, Yamamoto had held the first seven batters in the Giants lineup to just 1-for-14 with five strikeouts. But Bader and Haase were a combined 3-for-4 with three home runs. Bader’s home run came in just his second game back from the injured list after missing one month.
Tuesday’s start was the first time in Yamamoto’s career he surrendered three home runs in a single game. Haase became the first player to hit multiple homers off Yamamoto in one start.
Haase also became the first Giants player with a multi-home run game at Dodger Stadium since David Villar on Sept. 7, 2022. Haase is the first Giants catcher to hit multiple homers in a game at Dodger Stadium.
Yamamoto exited after 6.1 innings and with the Dodgers trailing 3-2. He ultimately was charged for five runs as Blake Treinen struggled before getting through the seventh inning.
Shohei Ohtani’s home run
Mired in a prolonged slump and against the backdrop of manager Dave Roberts indicating he would likely only pitch on Wednesday and then not be in the lineup for the series finale against the Giants, Shohei Ohtani had one of his most encouraging performances at the plate.
It included hitting a home run and reaching base safely in three of five plate appearances. Ohtani’s opposite-field blast in third inning was his first home run since April 26, which was a span of 52 plate appearances. It also represented just Ohtani’s second homer in his last 111 plate appearances.
Dodgers having trouble with Giants
The Dodgers inexplicably are 1-4 against the Giants so far this season. San Francisco holds an all-time record of 1,292-1,289 in head-to-head meetings against their longtime rival. There additionally have been 19 ties.
With the result of Tuesday’s game, the Giants have won on consecutive days at Dodger Stadium for the first time since sweeping a three-game series from June 16-18, 2023.
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