By Morris Phillips

Tantalizing enough was the possibility that the Giants could mess with the Dodgers’ collective minds for a third straight day but there it was in the ninth inning Thursday with a run in and a runner in scoring position with the Giants trailing 2-1.

But Dodgers’ closer Kenley Jansen navigated the tense situation getting pinch-hitter Brandon Crawford to fly out to end the game, and allow Los Angeles to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Giants.

 “We had the right guys up there.  That’s all you can ask for.  It didn’t quite happen today.  But it’s good to get the series as we head on to San Diego.”

In one of the more memorable series between the NL West clubs, each of three games were decided by one run and the billionaires from the south were forced to play station-to-station baseball—just to the Giants’ liking—far less preferred than the big splash style the Dodgers are expected to produce.  In the series, Giants’ pitching was outstanding, allowing just five runs in 30 innings of baseball.

But a couple of more timely hits off Giants’ bats could have produced the sweep, but manager Bruce Bochy admitted his team’s not there yet.

“Two of your three bigger bats aren’t swinging well it’s hard to put runs on the board,” Bochy said.  “They are not going to hit what they’re hitting right now.”

Pablo Sandoval had a pair of hits and a big RBI in the win Wednesday, but he was back in the hamper Thursday, going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.  With Hunter Pence struggling as well it may very well force Bochy to move one of the two sluggers down the lineup when play resumes Friday at the Padres’ Petco Park.  One thing was apparent on Thursday: Los Angeles’ Hyun-jin Ryu had all of the Giants’ bats on pause with his excellent command and variety of pitches.  Ryu allowed the Giants eight runs in just two innings on April 4, but he was a completely different pitcher on Thursday.

Madison Bumgarner wasn’t at his best, walking three batters and allowing six hits in less than five innings of work.  Bochy opted to go to the bullpen at that point, and he was rewarded by fine turns from Yusmeiro Petit and Jeremy Affeldt in his first appearance of the season.  The combination of the three was more than adequate, but the Giants’ bats couldn’t respond enough or earlier than the eighth inning when Brian Wilson appeared for the Giants.

The bearded one was greeted by a double from Ehire Adrianza, who had three hits.  The Giants couldn’t score after that, but Adrianza was back in the ninth, singling in Brandon Belt in an at-bat off Jansen.  But that pretty much highlighted the Giants’ offense on a day in which they were absent for the first seven frames.

The Giants open the series in San Diego with Matt Cain looking for his first win of the season after two rough losses.   Former Athletic and Berkeley native Tyson Ross will go for the Padres.