San Francisco Giants’ LaMonte Wade Jr., right, celebrates with Tyler Fitzgerald after they both scored off of a home run hit by Wade Jr. during the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodgers Stadium on Sun Sep 24, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

Despite having the bases loaded numerous times the San Francisco Giants were unable to get past the Los Angeles Dodgers losing in ten innings 3-2 Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers were first up on the scoreboard in the second inning. J.D. Martinez doubled followed by James Outman who wasted no time knocking the first pitch out of the park for a 2-0 lead.

San Francisco would tie up the game in the fifth inning. Fitzgerald came to the plate and singled to center. Next up LaMonte Wade Jr. homered to center and this game was all tied up 2-2. It was a brand new ball game.

The deadlock would continue into the eighth inning. Both defenses had really stepped up and there was not a whole lot of offensive action from either team.

In the ninth inning the Giants were on the verge of breaking this tie. They had the bases loaded with Heliot Ramos on third, Marco Luciano on second and LaMonte Wade Jr. was intentionally walked.

San Francisco had a huge opportunity to put some runs up on the board and break the tie. Dodgers pitcher Evan Phillips got out of the inning striking out Mitch Haniger giving Los Angeles the chance for a walk off. A Freeman ground out, a Muncy line out and a Martinez strike out sent this game into extra innings.

In the tenth inning the Giants once again loaded the bases with Estrada, Pederson and Haniger on base and Patrick Bailey at the plate. San Francisco did not want to come away empty a second time.

In a horrible twist of fate the Dodgers pulled off a double play and this game went into the bottom of the tenth. You can only toy with the Dodgers for so long before it bites you in the rear. With Amed Rosario on third base, Chris Taylor singled and that was ball game.

The Giants unable to turn loaded base situations into runs was their downfall in this game. They had every opportunity to win the game but just couldn’t pull it off. Although not mathematically out of a Wild Card it does now look pretty grim.

Giants post game notes: Sunday afternoon the San Francisco Giants (77-79) took on the Los Angeles Dodgers (96-59) in game four of their four game series. The Dodgers won the first game of the series 7-2 as well as the third game in a shutout 7-0.

San Francisco won game two 5-1 and are looking to even this series in game four. The Giants are running out of time with only seven games left and still sitting in sixth place for a Wild Card. They will need a lot of help to get into that third spot and they can’t give up anymore games. Making things worse for the Giants every team that is vying for the Wild Card spots won today. The Phillies, Marlins, Cubs, Reds, and Diamondbacks all winners.

Monday night the Giants will begin a three game series at Oracle Park with the San Diego Padres. On the mound for San Francisco will be Logan Webb. He has a 10-13 win/loss record with a 3.35 ERA. The Giants offense will face the Padres Blake Snell with a 14-9 win/loss record and a 2.33 ERA. Juan Soto leads the Padres in home runs with 33, and his batting average is .282 with 105 RBIs.

The Giants have a good one in Wilmer Flores who is having a great season with 22 home runs and a .281 batting average. Thairo Estrada is another offensive weapon for San Francisco with a .274 ERA. First pitch on Monday is scheduled for 6:45 PM.