What we learned in Giants' fourth straight loss to Dodgers

Share

A change of venue didn't change the Giants' luck.

After getting swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers at Oracle Park last weekend, the Giants started a four-game series at Dodger Stadium with a 4-3 loss. They are 0-4 against the Dodgers this year and 30-16 against everyone else.

All night, it looked like the last team to homer would win. The Dodgers took the lead with an early one and got two more, but the Giants got two of their own, briefly tying the game on Donovan Solano's first homer of the year.

Max Muncy gave the Dodgers the lead with a solo shot in the sixth, and the Giants couldn't get to the back end of the Dodgers' bullpen on a night when Dave Roberts only used relievers. Giants manager Gabe Kapler pulled out all his stops, using Buster Posey as a pinch-hitter for the first time with one out in the ninth. Posey struck out on a 96 mph fastball from Kenley Jansen, who didn't break a sweat while locking up the first game of the series.

The good news is the Dodgers had to tax their bullpen. The bad news is the Giants now face Walker Buehler, Julio Urias and Clayton Kershaw.

So, uhh, yeah, here are three more things to know.

San Francisco Giants

Find the latest San Francisco Giants news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.

How Melvin, Giants plan to fill DH hole with in-house options

Could fully healthy Lee hit in the heart of Giants' lineup?

His First Off Night

Alex Wood had not allowed more than two runs in any of his first seven starts for the Giants and in general he was pretty sharp Thursday, but the Dodgers got to him with three homers. Wood was charged with four earned in six innings while striking out eight.

Mookie Betts hit a triple off the center field wall in the third and Justin Turner followed with a homer to nearly the exact same spot in a sequence that was eerily reminiscent of the third inning last Friday. That night, it was a Betts double and Chris Taylor homer that gave the Dodgers a lead.

In the fifth, Wood gave up a 110 mph missile to DJ Peters, who once took Madison Bumgarner deep twice in the same inning when the former Giants ace was making a rehab start in A-ball. Muncy, who seemingly has homered every time he has seen the Giants the last three years, crushed an 0-2 mistake in the sixth.

Welcome Back, Donnie Barrels

Lefty Victor Gonzalez didn't allow a homer in his first 35 big league appearances and  Solano didn't have one in his first 22 games this year. Neither fact was still true after the top of the sixth.

Gonzalez was the fourth Dodgers pitcher to take the mound and he was immediately greeted by a bunt single from Mike Yastrzemski. That brought the tying run to the plate and Solano smoked a fastball down the left field line to tie it up.

Solano had been just 3-for-17 since coming off the IL, lowering his OPS to .645 entering the night.

RELATED: Why Gausman reminds Kuip of two past Giants aces

Staying Power?

The Giants have desperately needed a right-handed reliever to step up and give them some depth in the bullpen, and Zack Littell looks like he might end up being that guy.

He took over for Wood and struck out Peters before getting two weak grounders, the latter from Betts.

Littell has made 13 appearances since coming up from Triple-A Sacramento and has allowed just one run. If he keeps throwing like that, Jarlin Garcia keeps showing improvement and perhaps someone like John Brebbia -- who started a rehab assignment Thursday -- joins the mix, the Giants could end up in pretty solid shape in the middle innings.

Download and subscribe to the Giants Talk Podcast

Contact Us