by Cary Osborne
The Dodgers are finding out what it has been like to chase the Dodgers.
Out of first place for 89 days, the Dodgers lost for the third straight time to the San Francisco Giants by seeing the winning run score in the eighth inning or later.
This time, in the Dodgers’ 2–1 loss on Tuesday in the opener of a three-game series in San Francisco, the Giants scored the go-ahead run on an error by Cody Bellinger on a chaotic play.
With Giants Mike Yastrzemski on first and Buster Posey on second and no outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Max Muncy fielded a ground ball from Darin Ruf. He first tried to tag Yastrzemski, who backtracked to first base. Muncy had to get the sure out and went to first to get Ruf. Cody Bellinger, playing first base for the first time this season to help with an ailing hamstring, got the out on the bag, pump faked to second base, then threw to third base to try and get Posey. The ball sailed, allowing for Posey to score and the Giants to take a 2–1 lead.
“Hurts man, definitely hurts,” Bellinger said. “These in-division games mean a lot. But the beauty of it is we get to come back tomorrow and hopefully try and take a game at their home place.”
The Dodgers are now 7–7 against the Giants in 2021 with five games left in the regular season against their National League West rival — all in San Francisco. They now trail the Giants by three games.
On Tuesday, the Dodgers’ lone run came in the fifth inning when right fielder Billy McKinney drove in his first run with his new club with a single. Bellinger, who singled off Giants starter Logan Webb to begin the inning, scored on the hit.
The Dodgers had runners on second and third with one out in the top of the eighth after a Luke Raley single and Chris Taylor double, but couldn’t plate a run.
The Dodgers didn’t score from the sixth inning on in each of their last three losses to the Giants.
“It’s two evenly matched ballclubs, and if you look at how we played, whether it’s an at-bat here or an execution on defense — a missed play, a walk in a bad spot, they’ve been better than we have,” said manager Dave Roberts. “So, on the margin they’ve been better.”
The Giants scored one run against Dodger starter Julio Urías, who was efficient and excellent through his first five innings.
Through five, the Dodger left-hander allowed three hits and one runner to reach scoring position. He threw 64 pitches to that point and made first-pitch strikes to 13 of 17 batters.
In the sixth, he allowed three hits, including an RBI double to Posey, which tied the score 1–1 at the time. After a two-out single to Ruf, Urías was pulled.
He struck out five and walked none over 5 2/3 innings.
“Obviously, we’re going through a little bit of a tough stretch here, injuries and some of the mistakes we’ve been making on the field, but it’s just baseball,” Urías said. “You come out here, you do everything you can to prepare yourself for the next game and try and come out tomorrow ready.”
Notes:
· AJ Pollock extended his on-base streak to 15 games with a seventh-inning double.
· Clayton Kershaw pitched a simulated game in San Francisco. “The stuff was good to the eye,” Roberts said.
“Most importantly, he felt good coming out of it physically and mentally. Tomorrow will be telling as well as giving us some more clarity on this next week.”
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Dodgers pushed back again as they near the Giants was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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