Los Angeles Dodgers Enrique Hernandez (8) is jubilant rounding the bases after hitting a solo home run in the top of the seventh against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Mon May 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

Los Angeles (28-15). 100 011 100 2 . 6 11. 0

San Francisco (19-24). 030 001 000 0. 4. 6. 1 10. innings

Time: 2:55

Attendance: 35,033

Monday, May 13, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–After their come from behind 10 inning defeat of Cincinnati gave them the series win over the Reds, the struggling home team lost a 10 inning thriller. The loss was one more blow to a team that has suffered some bad breaks in the past few days.

Jung-Hoo Lee today joined Jorge Soler, Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, Austin Slater, Nick Ahmed, Tom Murphy, Robbie Ray, Austin Warren, and Ethan Small on the injured list. The Giants recalled catcher Jackson Reetz, who barely had time to unpack his bags after he’d been optioned to the River Cats, to replace the injured Lee.

An article in Sunday’s Los Angeles times would have you believe that the Dodgers also were kind of beat up. Pain had caused Shoei Orhani to sit out yesterday’s loss to the Padres, who have won their last two series against the talent laden socal rivals.

Ohtani was in the lineup tonight, batting second, going two for five and driving in a run. The Times bemoaned Mookie Betts’ recent slump. He showed up at Oracle Park with a batting average of .339 and led off the game with a 363 foot home run to left and also went two for five. The Giants should have such troubles!

San Francisco’s starting pitcher, 27 year old Jason Hicks, with a game time record of 3-1, 2.3 was nothing to sneeze at. Hicks, who had gone five frames and allowed three earned runs to gain his third win of the season, in his last outing, Hicks acquitted himself well tonight, although he threw too many pitches, 93, in his five innings of work.

He surrendered seven hits, one of which was Betts’ long ball, and two runs, both earned. didn’t walk anybody and struck out four. He wasn’t involved in the decision although his earned run average rose to a still better than respectable 2.44

It’s not often that you get to see a 25 year old major league pitcher who’s won three consecutive most valuable awards, but that’s what we saw tonight when Yoshinobu Yamamoto took the mound for the Giants tonight.

He isn’t a household name in MLB–yet–but fans of the Nippon Pacific League know 1山本 由伸 as the winner of that major league’s MVP from 2021 through 2023. The right hander brought a lifetime record in Nippon Professional Baseball of 75-30, 1,72 with him when he signed his 12 year contract with Los Angeles, and added four wins and a loss, with an ERA of 2.79, before his no decision against San Francisco tonight.

Yamamoto wound up throwing 84 pitches, 55 for strikes, over 5-2/3 innings, in which he allowed four runs, all earned, on five hits, one a homer, and two bases on balls, and struck out six. His earned run average climbed to 3.21.

Luis Matos, recalled from Sacramento yesterday, got his first big league hit of the season and put the Giants ahead, 2-1, in the home second with a 385 foot blast over the center field fence with Blake Sabol, also recently recalled, on base.

LA almost caught up in the third when, after Ohtani who had reached first with one down on a force out was picked off first, Hicks to Wade. Unfortunately Wade’s throw to second bounced off shortstop Casey Schmitt’s glove and the Dodgers’ designated hitter made it to third.

Schmitt originally was charged with an error, but that was changed to an error on Wade’s throwl. In any case Hicks maintained his poise and got Freddie Freeman to ground out to second, ending the inning and preserving SF’s precarious lead.

They lost that advantage in the fifth, but almost escaped that fate. Andy Pages led off with a double to left. After Hicks fanned James Outman, Betts sent a looping fly ball to right. Yastrzemski made a magnificent tumbling catch of the ball, racing 63 feet at 27.2 mph to grab the ball. Then Ohtani beat out a slow roller to second that Thairo Estrada fumbled. It was scored, correctly, as a hit, a game tying hitl

Los Angeles untied the knot against Luke Jackson, Hicks’ successor. After fanning Will Smith, he walked Max Muncy, heaved a wild pitch that allowed Muncy to take second before Teoscar Hernández whiffed, That brought up Gavin Lux, whose automatic double to center put the visitors ahead, 3-2.

The Giants knocked Yamamoto out of the box in the bottom of the sixth. It was Ramos who did it, driving in Chapman, who had walked and gone to second on a walk to Wade, with a single to left. That brought in Alex Vesia, who struck out Reetz, pinch hitting for Sabol to end the inning. Michael Grove set SF down in order in the seventh.

The pinch hitter LA sent to the plate to face Erik Miller, who took the mound in the top of the seventh, was Kike Hernández. The veteran did a lot better than the rookie Reetz. Hitting for Outman, Hernández hit it out of the park, 406 feet down the left field fence, just to the right of the foul pole. We were back to a tie game, 4-4.

The right handed Rogers, Tyler the submariner allowed a single to Will Smith in eighth, and that was it.

Daniel Hudson was the Dodger pitcher in the bottom of that frame. In spite of Wade’s drive to the back of the warning track in center field, he set the Giants down in order in their half of the eighth, which set the stage for Camilo Doval’s technicolor Hollywood epic entrance in the top of the ninth. He lived up to it, pitching a 1,2,3 inning that included a 102 mph cutter.

Blake Treinen, recently returned from the injured list, was the Dodgers’ choice to pitch the bottom of the ninth. He walked Flores Fitzgerald pinch ran for him and, in the twinkling of a eye, got picked off. Ramos then beat out a roller for an infield singer, 3-1, a call that was upheld after video review. But Treinen held firm and retired the next two batters, sending sending us into extra innings.

Tyler Rogers’ brother Taylor had to face Ohtani with Betts on second as the zombie runner. Ohtani whiffed, but Freeman walked ,and Smith smacked a two run double to the base of the center field fence. Both runners scored. Muncy took a called third strike, and Teoscar Hernández skied out to center.

Brett Wiselty pinch hit for Schmitt against JP Feyereisen, trying to wrap things up for LA, with Matos on second as the courtesy runner. Feyereisen fanned Wisely but walked Yastrzemski, bringing Estrada to the plate. He grounded into an around the horn double play, and that put an end to a game that was worthy of the Giant-Dodger rivalry.

Treinen was the winning pitcher. He now has a season record of 1-0, 0.00 over four innings. Taylor Rogers, now 1-2, 4,11, was charged with the loss.

Los Angeles hasn’t yet announced who they’ll send to the mound, Tuesday, at 6;40. The Giants will go with their struggling ace, Logan Webb (3-4, 3.38)