Giants Suffer Shaky Loss to Dodgers

· Yahoo Sports

The San Francisco Giants entered Thursday's matchup, the four-game series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with a 2-1 series lead. They lost 4-0 on Wednesday in a game where the offense struggled to generate run support behind Robbie Ray.

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That continued on Thursday as the Giants fell once again to the Dodgers in a 5-2 loss, evening the series at 2-2.

For Thursday’s start, Landen Roupp took the mound for the Giants and allowed four earned runs. Roupp looked strong against a formidable Dodgers' lineup, one of the best in baseball on paper, despite some recent struggles from Los Angeles.

The right-hander pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing two walks while striking out seven. He surrendered a first-inning homer to Dodgers catcher Will Smith, only the second home run Roupp has allowed all season.

Although the Dodgers scored early, Roupp settled in nicely as the game progressed before running into trouble in the sixth inning, where he ultimately exited. It marked his second-highest pitch count of the season at 105 pitches.

His higher total came on April 21 against the Miami Marlins, when he threw 106 pitches over 7 2/3 innings.

Roupp relied heavily on his sinker (31 pitches), curveball (32), and changeup (27). He found particular success with the sinker, which generated two strikeouts, while the curveball accounted for most of his swing-and-miss production. That generated eight whiffs on 13 swings and four strikeouts.

He also struck out one batter with his fastball, though he used the pitch sparingly, throwing it only five times.

The Giants' offense struggled through the early innings and was nearly no-hit until the fourth.

They finally broke through in unusual fashion in the fifth inning when Jung Hoo Lee hit a two-run, inside-the-park homer to left field after Teoscar Hernández misplayed a ball down the line. The ball rolled past Hernández, allowing Lee to circle the bases and score.

The play stood out even more considering how quiet the Giants' offense had been against Dodgers starter Emmet Sheehan. Up until that point, San Francisco had struggled to generate any rhythm offensively while Sheehan appeared to grow more comfortable as the outing progressed.

Matt Gage entered in relief of Roupp in the sixth inning. Gage has been one of the Giants’ most dependable bullpen arms and had already appeared in three of the four games in the series. While he had been effective throughout the set, this outing proved more difficult.

The left-hander struck out the first batter he faced before allowing a two-run single to Alex Call. Both inherited runs charged to Roupp were unearned. In the following at-bat, Miguel Rojas added an RBI single, this time scoring an earned run against Gage.

Overall, Gage recorded just one out while allowing two hits, one earned run, one walk, and one strikeout.

Ryan Borucki entered following Gage’s struggles and recorded the final out of the sixth inning. Borucki then returned for the seventh and was highly effective, needing just 13 pitches to retire the four batters he faced.

As for the offense, the Giants stalled following Lee’s inside-the-park homer. San Francisco finished with only two hits in the game — one from Lee and another from Rafael Devers, who reached on a softly-hit bloop single in the fourth.

The Giants will now make a quick turnaround as they travel to Sacramento, Calif., to begin a series against the Athletics on Friday.

Tyler Mahle is expected to take the mound for the Giants. He owns a 1-4 record with a 5.18 ERA this season. The Athletics are set to counter with Aaron Civale, who has been highly effective, posting a 4-1 record and a 2.59 ERA.

With the loss, the Giants dropped to 18-26 on the season, placing them fourth in the National League West Division ahead of only the Colorado Rockies, who sit at 17-27.

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