Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
The Giants have been playing poorly. The Dodgers have been red hot (seven wins in a row). Naturally, the Giants dominated the game Tuesday night as the Dodgers fell to them 6-2.
Brett Anderson‘s first foray into the Dodgers-Giants rival was an unsuccessful one. It wasn’t all Anderson’s fault, as the Dodgers’ potent offense was stifled by some strong Giant pitching. However, Anderson was a bit too hittable, as he allowed nine in his four innings of work. The Giants, as a whole, didn’t hit the ball particularly hard, but they hit them in the right place. This included a 2-out “squeeze” bunt by Brandon Crawford to get ‘Frisco on the board.
They would then string together three consecutive singles in the third inning before putting two more on the board in the fourth. Anderson didn’t miss many bats (one strikeout) and wasn’t fooling anyone with his off-speed offerings. It was just one of those nights for the southpaw.
This sums it up nicely.
The Giants have nine hits in four innings. A couple of them even look like hits! pic.twitter.com/iKF0CpsCi1
— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) April 22, 2015
The Dodgers scored their lone run in the fifth inning as Juan Uribe and basically God Alex Guerrero each doubled. But the Dodgers couldn’t must much off Tim Lincecum, who was throwing in the 86-88 MPH range with his fastball. The Giant bullpen held the Dodgers’ league-best offense to one run (that came on a wild pitch) over the game’s final four frames.
It’s always a game of inches, though. Joc Pederson came within inches of making a great play on a liner hit by Justin Maxwell in the second inning. If he flags it down, odds are the Giants don’t score. Howie Kendrick hit a hard ball up the middle that Crawford made a diving stop on to start a double play (oh yeah, the Dodgers hit into four of those tonight).
The Dodgers threatened in the eighth inning. Pederson (1-for-2, 2 BB) and Jimmy Rollins drew walks. That brought up Yasiel Puig with one out. He hit a fly ball down the right field line on which Maxwell slid and made a great catch. Adrian Gonzalez grounded out to end the threat. It was just that kind of night for the Dodgers. And, of course, Maxwell would hit a 2-run home run off Pedro Baez in the bottom of the inning.
This was the first time since April 11 the Dodgers have failed to score six runs in a game. A spot of good news: Puig had two hits in his return to the Dodgers’ lineup. He also made a nice running catch into the right-center field gap early in the game. The bullpen was also better than the box score would indicate (4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K). It looked a lot better before the Maxwell home run (the first allowed by the Dodgers’ bullpen this season).
The Dodgers (9-4) return to AT&T Park on Wednesday. Clayton Kershaw (1-1, 4.42 ERA) goes up against Madison Bumgarner (1-1, 5.59 ERA) for the Giants (5-10). First pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. Pacific time.
