Giants flex rare power to catch Dodgers in NL West standings

Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s command was poor, and the strike zone was bad in the 6-2 loss to Logan Webb and the Giants Friday night at Dodger Stadium.

Giants ace Logan Webb outdueled Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the series opener Friday night at Dodger stadium. Yamamoto was not his sharp self and allowed five walks and two home runs in 4 ²⁄₃ innings. The Dodgers fell 6-2 and now share first place in the NL West with the Giants after 70 games played.

The small strike zone put the squeeze on Yamamoto, and the Giants bats took advantage. Webb was the definition of sharp, and the mere two hits he allowed to the Dodgers was a Teoscar Hernández single in the fourth and a Teoscar homer in the seventh.

The top of the Dodgers order failed to collect a hit, and the big bats continued to struggle in the month of June with a .242 batting average going into Friday’s game.

An opposite field home run by Willy Adames in the first inning put Yamamoto and the Dodgers in an early 1-0 hole.

The Dodgers tied it up in the bottom of the second on an Andy Pages sac fly. The throw beat Will Smith to home plate, but Andrew Knizner dropped the ball. Webb didn’t look too happy with the home-plate ump Adam Beck who already caused a stir with Dave Roberts on a Max Muncy check swing call the inning prior.

Yoshinobu continued to have some trouble with his control and walked the bases loaded in the third. Despite a Mark Prior visit to the mound, the Giants leaped ahead with a Casey Schmitt go-ahead grand slam off a Yamamoto splitter.

Dodgers pitchers have served up the most grand slams in MLB this year with six.

Hernández gave the Dodgers their first hit against Webb with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Max Muncy erased the hard-fought base hit off Webb when he grounded into an inning-ending double play.

A Tommy Edman defensive gem at second base and a base running blunder by Heliot Ramos shifted momentum a bit. Dominic Smith doubled off Yamamoto on a line drive to Hernández in right field, but Ramos missed the stop sign and was tagged out at home.

After Yamamoto gave up his fifth walk on the night, a career high, Dave Roberts made the call to the bullpen for Justin Wrobleski with two outs and two on in the top of the fifth.

Hernández is apparently the only player who can hit Webb. His solo home run in the bottom of the seventh made it 5-2.

Andrew Knizner homered off Wrobleski in the eighth to give the Giants back a four-run lead.

The Dodgers dropped game one of their 10-game homestand, but on a positive note, we saw a solid outing from Wrobleski who ate 4 ¹⁄₃ innings and only allowed one run on four hits.

Friday particulars

Home runs: Willy Adames (8), Casey Schmitt (2), Teoscar Hernández (12), Andrew Knizner (1)

WP — Logan Webb (6-5): 7 IP, 2 hits, 2 runs, 4 strikeouts, 3 walks (98 pitches)

LP — Yoshinobu Yamamoto (6-5): 4 ⅔ IP, 6 hits, 5 runs, 4 strikeouts, 5 walks (102 pitches)

Up next

Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 4.35 ERA, 1.55 WHIP) takes the mound in the second game of the series Saturday night (7:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network). Right-hander Landon Roupp (4-4, 3.29 ERA, 1.36 WHIP) toes the rubber for San Francisco.