SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants gained’t simply be enjoying Sunday to attempt to keep away from being swept by the archrival Dodgers for the third time this season. With one more loss Saturday, they've an opportunity to make historical past.
Not the great variety.
Following a pennant race for the ages final season, the Giants-Dodgers rivalry has been equally lopsided this yr, with the newest lowpoint for San Francisco coming Saturday in a 7-2 loss. The hole separating the 2 golf equipment, which grew to 31.5 video games, is the widest it has been all season and would signify the Giants’ third-furthest end from first place since they moved to San Francisco (trailing solely 2017, 40 video games; and 1985, 33 video games).
The win was the Dodgers’ one hundredth this season, turning into the primary group to succeed in the century mark.
The loss was the Giants’ 14th in 18 conferences with their rivals down south.
They've by no means misplaced to the Dodgers 15 occasions in a single season.
The Giants matched up an opener and a starter who spent a lot of the season in Triple-A in opposition to Julio Urías, the bonafide ace atop the Dodgers’ rotation seemingly filled with them. Final season? Hey, something might occur. The Giants as soon as tossed bullpen video games on back-to-back days and break up with the Dodgers. They thrived on the sudden.
This season?
After 5 months of baseball and 17 prior conferences between these golf equipment, there was nothing sudden in regards to the end result Saturday. The ultimate rating solely elevated the chasm in document (Dodgers 14, Giants 4) and run differential (Dodgers 95, Giants 52).
Regardless of Sean Hjelle’s promising final outing (5 IP, 1 ER at Milwaukee), the lanky right-hander wasn’t capable of string collectively two robust performances. He recorded three outs because the Dodgers tagged him for six runs on eight hits, together with a two-run blast by Trayce Thompson to open the scoring within the second and 5 straight singles that plated 4 extra within the third.
Urías struck out eight and allowed one run over six innings, which really rose his ERA in 5 begins in opposition to the Giants — to 0.90 (three earned runs in 30 innings).
“He’s at all times been that proficient,” supervisor Gabe Kapler mentioned. “His curveball has great spin and he’s capable of land it for a strike, principally each time he desires to. His fastball’s received good carry. He’s tremendous aggressive.”
On the intense aspect, opener John Brebbia and the relievers who adopted Hjelle — an inning apiece from Yunior Marte and Cole Waites, two from Alex Younger, three from Jarlín García — mixed to restrict Los Angeles to at least one run on 5 hits over the remaining eight innings.
“I don’t know what precisely I owe them, however I undoubtedly owe them one thing,” Hjelle mentioned of the work of the relievers behind him. “I couldn’t throw any offspeed pitch for a strike, so I principally simply had my fastball and even that wasn’t working and transferring the way in which I wished it to.
“For those who’ve received one OK pitch in opposition to the very best group in baseball, they’re going to make you pay.”
García retired all however two of the 11 batters he confronted, whereas Marte despatched down the Dodgers’ harmful 1-2-3 of Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman so as within the eighth.
“Marte was wonderful…actually encouraging,” Kapler mentioned. “Jarlín’s been actually good in that position. So that you begin to assume, perhaps his greatest position is as an extended man or a man that can provide you two or three (innings) at at time.”
In addition to the ceremony honoring Hunter Pence earlier than the sport, Wilmer Flores supplied Giants followers their most pleasure of the night time with a high-arcing solo shot that simply carried over the left-field wall within the third inning.
The house run made it 6-2, after Thairo Estrada led off the primary inning with a single and scraped his means house with out one other hit, and was Flores’ nineteenth of the season, eclipsing his earlier career-high. Flores, whose team-leading 66 RBIs are additionally a private greatest, is three homers away from Joc Pederson (22) for the group lead.
“You don’t should ask me twice to rave in regards to the work Wilmer’s accomplished,” Kapler mentioned. “I’m actually pleased for him. Good to see him set a career-high in house runs. I don’t assume it’s going to be his final house run of the season. It’d be cool to see him get to twenty, as effectively.”
In two video games this sequence in opposition to the Dodgers, the Giants have managed two runs and 7 hits.
Brandon Crawford singled in every of his first two at-bats in opposition to Urías however was left stranded on first each occasions.
Known as up from Triple-A to face the lefty Urías, rookie outfielder Heliot Ramos went hitless in 4 at-bats.
Catcher Joey Bart, who was putting out on the highest price within the majors earlier than he was despatched to Triple-A in June however was batting .274 since being recalled, set a season-high by whiffing in all 4 of his at-bats.
The loss additionally dropped the Giants to 21-38 in opposition to Nationwide League West foes, who make up all of their remaining 17 video games. That profitable proportion, .355, would signify their third-lowest mark for the reason that starting of divisional play in 1969.
The Giants will flip to Alex Cobb in opposition to Los Angeles lefty Andrew Heaney, who allowed 4 house runs in his final begin in opposition to San Francisco, within the sequence finale, which is able to air on ESPN’s Sunday Night time Baseball with a late 4:08 p.m. begin time.