The Los Angeles Dodgers appeared on the verge of salvaging a split in their series with the San Francisco Giants, only for Kenley Jansen to blow his third consecutive save and second in as many nights.
Not to be lost in the defeat was another stellar performance by Walker Buehler, who gave up just one run on five hits over 7.1 innings of work with nine strikeouts.
After striking out the side in the seventh inning, Buehler returned to the mound for the top of the eighth. He began the inning with a groundout before allowing a one-out single to Darin Ruf on an 0-2 count.
It was the last pitch Buehler would throw as Blake Treinen entered the game out of the bullpen and retired the next two batters to preserve the Dodgers’ 3-1 lead. “I opened the door to come out of the game when I threw a bad slider on 0-2,” Buehler said after the game.
“It’s something I’ve been super conscious of with trying to throw better 0-2 pitches. It’s a professional hitter and I threw a pitch that wasn’t enough of what I needed. That’s on me.”
With Thursday’s loss, the Dodgers now trail the Giants by three games in the National League West standings. The club squandered multiple opportunities this week to pull into a tie for first place and now look to regroup against the Colorado Rockies.
“It’s a big series. It’s Dodgers-Giants. They’re in first place and it’s something that we’re obviously accustomed to being in that position. We’ve just got to keep going,” Buehler said of where the team goes from here.
“Obviously we’ve got a lot of baseball left to play. It is what it is. These stink to lose. You want to win and play well, and I think we played well both nights. It just hasn’t gone our way.”
Dodgers experience franchise-first with losses to Rockies, Giants
Dating back to last Sunday’s series finale with the Rockies at Coors Field, the Dodgers have lost three games in which they carried a lead into the ninth inning.
Per the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the first time in Dodgers franchise history they have held a lead in the ninth inning but lost three straight games in a single season.
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