Off day for the bullpen exposes Dodgers’ lineup struggles

As Roki Sasaki and Trevor McDonald took different paths to deliver extremely similar results—Sasaki navigating through far less traffic than McDonald—it was up to the bullpens to decide this game, and the Giants’ one proved superior on the evening, securing a 9-3 win to open up this four-game set at Dodger Stadium. Hanging splitters and a lack of swing-and-miss action on the fastball proved costly for Sasaki. As disappointing as Sasaki might be with the loss, a second straight start allowing just three runs and pitching into the sixth at least shouldn’t be dismissed—it represents growth from where he was a couple of weeks ago. At the same time, a bitter taste is to be expected when you cough up the lead as you exit, seeing the Giants score two of their three runs against him in the sixth, an inning in which he failed to record an out. The Giants scored a run against Sasaki in the second and sixth. In both times, Rafael Devers provided key hits, first by waiting on six straight fastballs to hit a hanging splitter over the right-field wall—later on, Devers went well outside of the zone to dump an 0-1 fastball into left field, advancing to second as the Dodgers tried to nab the baserunner at third. With two in scoring position, the subsequent single from Helliot Ramos handed the Giants a 3-2 lead. When Sasaki left the game, he was responsible for a runner at second with no outs, but Blake Treinen carried on the recent success of this somewhat depleted bullpen by keeping the score at 3-2. It was a short-lived lead for the Giants as the Dodgers answered back in the bottom of the sixth with a home run from Max Muncy, his eleventh of the season, and one that puts him three behind Eric Karros in the all-time leaderboard for Dodger Stadium long balls at 127. Much like Devers had been at the forefront of the damage against Sasaki, Muncy filled a similar role against McDonald. The first RBI from the Dodgers in this game came from a Muncy bases-loaded single in the fourth. Sadly, they only tacked one more in that frame, leaving the Giants ample room to take control of this game not long after. That Muncy home run in the sixth came as he picked up on a clear trend from Trevor McDonald, who, for the most part, managed to smoke and mirrors his way through an effective outing, loading up on sinkers early on and gradually moving to more off-speed stuff in the second and third time through the orders. Keeping the Dodgers a disappointing 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position, McDonald managed to pitch five-plus frames, allowing just three runs, matching Sasaki’s numbers, and leaving the decision to the bullpen. After each bullpen took care of their inherited runner from the starter, the Giants drew first blood. Alex Vesia’s fastball-heavy approach in the seventh didn’t work, walking in the go-ahead 4-3 run with a free pass to Devers (him again) on a 3-2 heater too high for even him to chase. Will Klein threatened to get out of it with just that run as he struck out the first hitter he faced, but Willy Adames dumped a hanging sweeper in the outfield for a two-run single, making this a 6-3 affair. And near the end, any hope that the Dodgers might’ve had of making this a close one was silenced as the Giants added three more in the ninth against Wyatt Mills. It won’t get the same attention it otherwise would have had the result favored the Dodgers, but if you’re looking for silver linings, Teoscar Hernández’s performance on both sides of the ball provides one. Moving down in the order due to his hitting struggles, Hernández reached base thrice with a pair of hits and a walk and made two nice defensive plays. On top of this great catch for the first out of this game, Hernández smothered a sinking liner from Casey Schmitt in the seventh that loaded the bases in front of Devers. Ultimately, all three base runners came around to score, but he gave Vesia and Klein a fighting chance in that frame. On the flip side, Shohei Ohtani’s struggles with the bat continue, finishing the game 0 for 5 with a pair of strikeouts. Mookie Betts recorded a hit in five at-bats in his first game back from the injured list. - Home runs— Rafael Devers (5) and Max Muncy (11) - WP— Matt Cage (3-1): 1.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 walks, 1 strikeout - LP— Alex Vesia (1-1): 0.1 IP, 3 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 1 strikeout Look around this week, and you will struggle to find such a lopsided pitching matchup as the one taking place at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday night. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start opposite Adrian Houser, who enters the game with a 0-4 record and an ERA over 6.00. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. (PT).