It has been far from the season for which the San Francisco Giants had hoped and yet all has been just fine, for the most part, when it has come to playing against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Giants can earn their second series win over the Dodgers in as many tries in the finale of a four-game series at Los Angeles on Thursday.
Even after a 4-0 loss to the Dodgers on Wednesday, San Francisco still is in position to make it a successful trip south, thanks to victories in the opening two games of the matchup. The Giants followed the same formula last month by winning the first two games of a three-game series in the Bay Area.
While the Giants are 4-2 against the Dodgers this season, they are a mere 14-23 against everybody else.
But the loss on Wednesday came with an embarrassing mistake when Willy Adames was doubled off second base in the seventh inning. Drew Gilbert hit a one-out fly ball to the warning track and Adames started circling the bases, apparently thinking there were two outs.
“(Baserunning) was an area we wanted to improve on from last year, but just the whole body of work … is something we need to get better at,” Giants manager Tony Vitello said. “When we get back to San Francisco, I’ll be standing there with a fungo. Whoever wants to get better at it can.”
In the series finale, the Giants will send right-hander Landen Roupp (5-3, 3.09 ERA) to the mound.
Roupp gave up one run on three hits in his most recent start Saturday at home in a 13-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He lasted just four innings after throwing 94 pitches, however, and was charged with the loss.
In five career appearances (three starts) against the Dodgers, Roupp is 1-2 with a 5.71 ERA. He earned a 3-1 win over Los Angeles on April 21 when he gave up one run on one hit over five innings, while overcoming a season-high five walks.
The Dodgers will have right-hander Emmet Sheehan (2-1, 4.79) on the mound Thursday, but they won’t have Shohei Ohtani in the designated hitter spot. Ohtani was brilliant on the mound by tossing seven shutout innings on Wednesday to end the team’s four-game losing streak, but he was not in the lineup as a hitter then either.
An inconsistent start to the season at the plate for Ohtani convinced Dodgers manager Dave Roberts that two days away from the batter’s box would do his star some good.
“I do want to contribute more offensively,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “I haven’t done so this year so I’m looking forward to doing that.”
Said Roberts: “I do think that we have a good enough relationship that he understands I’m doing this for him and the team. I do think that, even if he probably disagreed with it, I still think it’s the best process right now.”
Without Ohtani as a hitter on Wednesday, Santiago Espinal took advantage of a rare start with a home run in the third inning, his first since Aug. 30, 2024. Mookie Betts made it back-to-back home runs.
Both Dodgers victories over the Giants this season have been by shutout.
Sheehan has four appearances (three starts) against the Giants, going 1-0 with a 0.82 ERA. He matched a career high with 10 strikeouts over seven scoreless, one-hit innings against the Giants last Sept. 21 but didn’t get a decision in the 3-1 loss.
–Field Level Media
