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Reporting from ORACLE PARK
The Giants had a chance to advance into an NL Wild Card spot Saturday night, but fell short in a 13-7 loss to the Dodgers.
Los Angeles (83-65) opened the scoring in the first inning. Shohei Ohtani reached on an infield single, advanced on a Mookie Betts bunt, then scored when Freddie Freeman ripped a laser into left. The Dodgers led 1-0.
Logan Webb (L, 14-10, 3.34 ERA) said the tone was set early:
“I knew it was going to be a weird game when Shohei Ohtani gets a base hit to start the game. I think that just kind of set the tone. It was a weird game overall.”
This story has been updated with quotes and post-game material from the Giants clubhouse at Oracle Park.
San Francisco (75-73) stormed back in the bottom half. Heliot Ramos singled, Rafael Devers walked, and Willy Adames extended his on-base streak to 15 games with a single to center that brought Ramos home. A throwing error allowed both runners to move up. Matt Chapman followed with an RBI single to left, Jerar Encarnación drove in another on a fielder’s choice, and Luis Matos added a run-scoring single to right for a 4-1 Giants lead.
Ohtani answered in the third with a towering 454-foot home run to center, his 49th of the season. Later in the inning, Teoscar Hernández doubled home Betts to trim the Giants lead to 4-3.
The Dodgers broke it open in the fifth. Betts walked, Freeman singled, and Max Muncy drew another walk to load the bases. Hernández drilled a double to right, scoring Betts and Freeman to put Los Angeles on top 5-4. Michael Conforto added a sacrifice fly, and Ben Rortvedt followed with a two-run double before Betts capped the six-run rally with an RBI single to center, extending the lead to 9-4.
Melvin said it was tough holding down the Dodgers Saturday night:
“You feel pretty good about your chances, especially with Webb on the mound, but he just didn’t have his great stuff today. It went from pretty good fielding, they had 17 hits tonight.”
The Giants quickly responded in the bottom of the fifth, when Chapman collected his 250th career double, Encarnación knocked him in with a double of his own, and Patrick Bailey lined a two-run double to right to pull San Francisco within 9-7.
But Los Angeles pulled away again in the sixth. A Matt Gage wild pitch scored Hernández, and Miguel Rojas doubled in two more to make it 12-7. Freeman added the final blow in the ninth with an RBI double that brought home Ohtani.
Logan Webb (L, 14-10, 3.34 ERA) took the loss, allowing six runs on 10 hits in four innings. Enrique Henriquez (1-1, 1.84 ERA) earned the win in relief for the Dodgers.
NL Wild Card
The NL Wild Card race continues to tighten, and the Giants couldn’t take advantage Saturday as the New York Mets dropped their 8th straight, 3-2 to Texas.
The result leaves the Giants still a half game behind the Mets for the final NL Wild Card spot. Even though New York’s skid continues, they still hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, meaning San Francisco must finish ahead in the standings to claim the spot.
With just under two weeks of the regular season left, every game matters. The Giants now face a critical stretch where mistakes will further narrow their margin for error — and every win will be essential to squeak into October.
Up Next
The Giants turn to left-hander Robbie Ray (11-6, 3.32 ERA) on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. in the series finale.
