San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Series Win vs. Dodgers

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May 17, 2017; San Francisco, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton ershaw (22) throws a pitch during the fourth inning of the game against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports /

3 DOWN

1 – Offensive Inconsistency

The series started extremely well for the offense, as the Giants lit up Brandon McCarthy and his bullpen brethren for a season-high-tying eight runs on Monday. They couldn’t sustain that offensive performance on Tuesday, scoring just two runs and going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Fortunately for them, Blach was dominant and that one hit came from Brandon Crawford‘s bat, scoring Brandon Belt from third with what proved to be the game-winning run in the sixth inning.

Wednesday didn’t provide many opportunities to hit with runners in scoring position, or on base at all, for that matter. Clayton Kershaw was as dominant as is normal (more on that in a minute), and the team could only scratch out three singles against him. The runners didn’t get over into scoring position any of those three times. They were shut out until there was one out in the ninth, when Eduardo Nuñez hit his first home run of the season, off former Giant Sergio Romo.

2 – Clayton Kershaw

The Giants got to Kershaw the last time they saw him at Dodger Stadium, but this was a different Kershaw. In Los Angeles, the normally pinpoint-accurate lefty was off his game, leaving pitches up in the zone and allowing the Giants to take advantage. That didn’t happen on Wednesday. The more familiar Kershaw was on the mound, and he dominated the Giants, allowing just those three singles in seven shutout innings of work.

Kershaw earned his 20th career win against the Giants, and lowered his ERA to 1.62 when facing the orange and black. At AT&T Park, that ERA drops to an awe-inspiring 1.29 over 146 innings. After watching Kershaw do what he did on Wednesday, it’s only fair to ask “how have the Giants beaten him nine times?!?”.

3 – Johnny Cueto

Cueto was outstanding in his first season with the Giants, and with Madison Bumgarner on the shelf, Cueto was been expected to take over the ace role. Instead, Cueto has not looked like anything close to the 2016 version of himself this year. He allowed five runs in six innings to the Dodgers, raising his ERA to 4.50 and his WHIP to 1.26. He’s put together just four quality starts in nine attempts.

Next: More Giant Roster Move: Pence to DL, Mac Up

The Giants need Cueto to tap into the 2016 version, and they need him to be the stud at the top of the rotation.

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