Dodgers 6 Giants 12: Can’t Win Them All

The Dodgers were handed their first loss of the season in San Francisco.

The first three and a half games were magical for Dodger fans, as the Dodgers came an inning short of tying the record for most shutout innings to start the season.

The Dodgers were riding high after leaving San Diego with a combined 25-0 series victory. They continued their hot hitting off Giants’ starter Jake Peavy, with two runs in the second, one in the third and one in the fifth. Dodger starter Alex Wood was great through four, and it looked like another fun Dodger game.

Things started to unravel in the bottom of the fifth, which started off with a Brandon Crawford walk. Kelby Tomlinson pinch hit for Peavy and laid down a perfect bunt for a single. A pair of groundouts scored a run, and then Joe Panik and Buster Posey belted extra base hits to cut the deficit to one. Wood got out of the inning with a lead, which probably should have been enough.

Wood hit for himself in the sixth and struck out, but remained in the game. He gave up a pair of weakly-hit ground ball singles to start the sixth and was pulled for Yimi Garcia. After a sac bunt, Garcia gave up a pair of singles, got another out on a bunt, and a third single that put the Giants up 7-4. Joc Pederson destroyed a baseball to make it 7-6, but J.P. Howell allowed four singles to start the 8th, and Pedro Baez allowed a grand slam to Hunter Pence to put the game out of reach.

Wood has been taking a lot of flak for this game, despite a great first four innings. He got hit around in the fifth but kept the Dodgers ahead, which was his job. It surprised me to see him come back for the sixth even with only 74 pitches thrown, but he forced weak contact and got unlucky in the sixth. Garcia came in and couldn’t stop the bleeding, and for the first time in 2016, the Dodgers looked human. Leaving Wood in may have been the first error of Dave Roberts‘ managerial career, but at the end of the day the Giants walloped the Dodgers, so that decision may not have been the downfall of the game.

The Giants played full of emotion in their home opener, and the Dodgers just got bloop/bunt single’d to death. It happens. Much like that 15-0 Opening Day victory was only one win, this game was only one loss. The Dodgers will score six or more runs this season more often than they give up 12, so let’s not act like this game is the end of the world. We all knew the Dodgers would eventually give up a run, and they probably weren’t going to go 162-0. Losing to the Giants always leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but at the end of the day it’s only one loss.

The Dodgers look to get back to their winning ways tomorrow, with Ross Stripling set to make his major league debut. Matt Cain will start for the Giants.