Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) joins the chorus of teammates with manager Dave Roberts left and to the back concluding Sat Jun 29, 2024’s contest against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco (AP News photo)

Saturday, June 29, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Los Angeles Dodgers 14 (52-32)

San Francisco Giants 7 (40-44)

Win: Daniel Hudson (5-1)

Loss: Sean Hjelle (3-2)

Time: 3:45

Attendance: 39,663

By Stephen Ruderman

SAN FRANCISCO–After a tight and hard-fought seesaw game through 10 innings, the Dodgers exploded for seven runs in the top of the 11th inning to beat the Giants 14-7.

After Brett Wisely hit a walk-off home run to cap off a thrilling 5-3 Giants’ win over their hated rivals last night, the Giants and Dodgers were set to go at it again today in a nationally-televised late-afternoon affair at Oracle Park.

Without a single cloud in the sky, the 4:15 p.m. start time meant there would be a lot of shadows, which would make it a very hard day for hitting.

It would be yet another bullpen game for Bob Melvin’s beat-up pitching staff. Erik Miller would be the opener, and as the Giants took the field, he ran in from the bullpen in left-center field. Hey, he’s a reliever, and the man has his routine. Anyway, Miller started off the day with a 1-2-3 top of the first inning.

Tyler Glasnow made the start for the Dodgers, and Jorge Soler lined a double down the left field line to lead off the bottom of the first. Soler moved to third on a ground out by LaMonte Wade. Ramos then knocked in Soler on a sacrifice fly to right-center field.

The Dodgers responded off Spencer Howard in the top of the second. Andy Pages doubled on a duck snort off the end of the bat to right, and Miguel Rojas knocked in Pages with another suck snort to tie the game

Matt Chapman led off the bottom of the second with a double, just as Soler did in the first. However, the rally was immediately snuffed when Chapman was picked off while taking off for third base prior to the pitch.

It was unfortunate, because he would have scored when Michael Conforto immediately followed that with a double off the center field wall. The Giants would end up wasting the opportunity entirely, as the game went to the third tied 1-1.

Chapman’s gaffe and the Giants’ wasted opportunity would come back to bite them in the top of the third. Shohei Ohtani in particular made it hurt with a home run to straight away center to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

Not to worry, the Giants had a response in the bottom of the third. Nick Ahmed walked to start the inning, and Soler doubled to right to knock in Ahmed and tie the game. Wade reached on a broken-bat ground ball to short, in which Soler was thrown out trying to advance to third.

It was the Giants’ second base-running gaffe of the game, but thankfully, it didn’t hinder the rally. Heliot Ramos singled up the middle to center, and Patrick Bailey singled to right to score Wade and put the Giants back ahead.

Matt Chapman reached on an infield hit to third that was bobbled by Dodgers’ third-baseman Cavan Biggio—which could have been ruled an error—to knock in Ramos and make it 4-2. Michael Conforto walked to load the bases, and Bailey scored when Luis Matos reached on a fielder’s choice to make it 5-2.

The Giants scored four runs in the bottom of the third, and the Dodgers would score four of their own against a tired Spencer Howard in the top of the fourth. Andy Pages walked with one out, and base-hits by Jason Heyward and Miguel Rojas made it 5-3.

Gavin Lux singled to right, and as Dodgers Third Base Coach Dino Ebel waived in Heyward, Luis Matos threw a perfect strike to the plate, but it was dropped by catcher Patrick Bailey. Heyward scored, and Rojas, the tying run, was now standing just 90 feet away at third.

Biggio laid down a bunt but popped out to first base, and Ohtani walked to load the bases. That did it for Howard, as Melvin brought in Randy Rodriguez.

Will Smith came up and hit a slow ground ball to short that Nick Ahmed charged and bare handed, but Smith beat it out, and Lux scored to tie it. Freddie Freeman then walked with the bases loaded, and the Dodgers were back ahead.

Tyler Glasnow was pulled after the Giants’ four-run bottom of the third, and it was the first time this season that he did not go at least five innings. He was replaced by Yohan Ramirez for the bottom of the fourth. Ahmed reached on an infield hit to start the inning, but Ramirez retired the side in order afterwards.

As the shadows started to eclipse home plate, the scoring almost stopped entirely. Rodriguez threw a 1-2-3 top of the fifth, and Ramirez got Bailey to ground out to start the bottom of the fifth.

Matt Chapman lined a base-hit the other way to right, and Dodgers Manager Dave Roberts pulled Ramirez for Alex Vesia, who immediately walked Michael Conforto to put runners at first and second with one out.

Matos was unable to get the job done, as he flew out to left, but Brett Wisely got jammed and floated a broken-bat base hit to center to score Chapman to tie it.

It was now a 6-6 game heading to the sixth. Rodriguez and left-hander Taylor Rogers combined for a 1-2-3 top of the sixth. Wade doubled off Vesia with one out in the bottom of the sixth, and Ramos walked after Roberts brought in Michael Petersen. However, Bailey and Chapman both struck out and the game remained tied.

Freeman doubled off Rogers with one out in the top of the seventh, but Ryan Walker came in to strike out Teoscar Hernandez and Andy Pages. Anthony Banda threw a scoreless inning in the bottom of the seventh, and the game remained tied going to the eighth.

Walker got out of a jam in the top of the eighth, and Blake Treinen pitched a scoreless bottom of the eighth for LA to send it to the ninth.

Camilo Doval came in for a non-save situation in the top of the ninth. Doval has had a rough go of things here in June, but he has particularly struggled in non-save situations.

Doval struck out Ohtani to start the inning, but Will Smith singled, and Freeman walked. However, Doval bore down and struck Hernandez and Page out—both swinging—to get out of it unscathed.

Evan Phillips then pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth for the Dodgers to send this game into extra innings. This would be the second time in their last three games that the Giants were going extras.

Melvin went to Sean Hjelle for the tenth, and Andy Pages was the automatic runner at second for the Dodgers. Miguel Rojas gave the Dodgers the lead with a base-hit to center.

The veteran, Daniel Hudson, came in for LA in the bottom of the 10th, and Brett Wisely was the runner at second. Nick Ahmed grounded out to short to start the inning, but David Villar hit a pinch-hit double into the gap out in left-center to tie it.

Hudson fell behind 3-1 to Wade, and then Roberts decided to put him on. Ramos then reached on a swinging bunt along the third base line to load the bases for Patrick Bailey. It was a break for the Giants, as the ball appeared to have hit Ramos’ foot, but it was not a reviewable play.

Roberts brought in Chris Taylor from center field to be the fifth infielder, as the Giants had a chance for their second-straight walk-off win, but Bailey struck out swinging at a low slider, and Matt Chapman fouled out.

So it was off to the 11th, and with Tyler Rogers not available after pitching in three of the Giants’ last four games, Hjelle was back out. I’m not going to waste everyone’s time with the long and painful details, but the Dodgers pounded Hjelle into submission for seven runs.

Melvin had Ohtani put on to start the inning, and once Will Smith drove in a pair with a double to left-center, the floodgates opened. The first out of the inning wasn’t even made until Jason Heyward scored the inning’s seventh run on a sacrifice fly by Miguel Rajos.

As for the bottom of the 11th, Ryan Yarbrough pitched a 1-2-3 inning to end it, and the Giants took a brutal loss on the chin 14-7.

The win goes to Daniel Hudson, and the loss goes to Sean Hjelle, who was just thrown into a tough situation having to eat innings for the Giants’ beat-up bullpen at a bad time.

The Giants fall to 40-44, and they can once again try to win the series in the finale Sunday afternoon. Lefty James Paxton (7-1, 3.39 ERA) will make the start for the Dodgers, and for the Giants, you guessed it, it will be another game bullpen game. First pitch will be at 1:05 p.m.

Giants News and Notes:

Blake Snell will make another on Wednesday in Sacramento against the Reno Aces. If his start goes well, the Giants hope to have him return to the rotation the following week during the Giants’ series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oracle Park.

The Giants added a memorial pass for Hall-of-Famer Orlando Cepeda, who passed away yesterday. Like Mays’ memorial patch, Cepeda’s has the orange number 30 under the name “Cepeda.” which is also in orange in a black circle surrounded by a circular orange outline.