San Francisco Giants Offense Sputters In 2-1 Loss To Dodgers
By Phil Watson
Apr 17, 2014; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants infielder Ehire Adrianza (53) hits a RBI single in the ninth inning of their baseball game with the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports. Dodgers won 2-1.
Hyun-Jin Ryu shut out the San Francisco Giants for seven innings and a late rally in the ninth fell short as the Giants couldn’t close out a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers Thursday at AT&T Park, losing 2-1.
Ryu (3-1) continued his road dominance with his performance, extending his streak of consecutive scoreless innings on the road to 26 this season.
Part of the problem for the Giants (10-6) is that the failed to deliver when they needed to. San Francisco was 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position on Thursday and just 5-for-30 for the series against the Dodgers (10-6).
The Giants had chances in the late going after Ryu departed. Against former Giants closer Brian Wilson in the eighth, Ehire Adrianza led off with a double, but was stranded at second. Joaquin Arias flew out, Hunter Pence walked, Pablo Sandoval struck out and Buster Posey—who has just one hit in his last 19 at-bats—flew out to center.
Against Dodger closer Kenley Jansen in the ninth, the Giants caught a break when Michael Morse struck out swinging but made it to first when strike three was a wild pitch. Brandon Belt replaced Morse at first after hitting into a force play and moved up to second on defensive indifference.
Hector Sanchez struck out for the second out and Gregor Blanco kept the inning alive with a walk. Adrianza followed by flaring a single down the left field line to score Belt.
Brandon Crawford, out of the starting lineup for the second straight day because of a tight hamstring, hit for Arias with the tying run at second base, but flew out to left to end the game.
Center fielder Angel Pagan was also out of the lineup for the Giants with a sore knee.
The Dodgers got both of their runs off Giants starter Madison Bumgarner (2-1), who couldn’t get out of the fifth inning.
L.A. took the lead in the second on an RBU single by Tim Federowicz and chased Bumgarner in the fifth after Justin Turner led off the inning with a double and scored on a single by Adrian Gonzalez.
Bumgarner worked just 4.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts, throwing 99 pitches in all. Yusmeiro Petit worked 2.2 scoreless innings, walking one and striking out one, and Jeremy Affeldt made his season debut, allowing a hit and striking out one in two scoreless innings.
Adrianza, who came into the game as part of a double-switch when Bumgarner was lifted, was 3-for-3 and raised his average to .200. Pence was 2-for-3, but the rest of the lineup mustered just one hit.
The Giants now head down the coast to San Diego, opening a three-game series at Petco Park on Friday at 7:10 p.m. Matt Cain (0-2, 4.00 ERA) is scheduled to start for San Francisco, with Tyson Ross (1-2, 3.12 ERA) slated to work for the Padres.