SAN FRANCISCO — They chant it nightly, regardless of the score – “Beat L-A!” They finally did it for the first time in awhile.
Giants ace Logan Webb held the Dodgers scoreless for six innings and prevented a sweep by the SoCal visitors with a 4-1 victory for the San Francisco Giants.
The win was the Giants’ first in six meetings with the Dodgers this season.
Playing with house money after winning the first two games, the Dodgers tried to steal some more without spending any of their pitching capital. They called down the road to Sacramento, where their Triple-A team was playing, and promoted right-handers Elieser Hernandez and Eduardo Salazar.
The two combined to keep alive the Dodgers’ streak of allowing four runs or fewer – but just barely. It has been 22 consecutive games.
Making his first major-league start since 2022 with the Miami Marlins, Elieser Hernandez was everything the Dodgers could have hoped. He held the Giants to three runs in six innings, two on a front-row home run by Mike Yastrzemski, just over the high wall in right field.
Salazar handled the seventh and eighth innings, allowing a run in the eighth.
The Dodgers had their chances against Webb.
A leadoff single by Mookie Betts, a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out in the first inning. But Webb struck out Max Muncy and got Teoscar Hernandez to fly out harmlessly to right field.
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The Dodgers had their next best chance to score against Webb in the fourth inning when Teoscar Hernandez led off with a drive to the wall in straightaway center field. Giants center fielder Luis Matos crashed into the wall as he made a spectacular catch, robbing Hernandez of a home run.
They stranded two more in the fifth inning before Webb handed it off to the bullpen.
The Dodgers finally broke through against the Giants’ bullpen in the eighth but only for one run. Singles by Freddie Freeman and Will Smith put runners at the corners with no outs. Muncy drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. But Teoscar Hernandez struck out and Gavin Lux grounded out weakly.
Shohei Ohtani went 2 for 4 with a pair of singles and a walk. But the two outs were strikeouts on called third strikes that left him walking away from the plate, shaking his head at umpire Hunter Wendelstedt’s decision-making.
More to come on this story.