SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants held off the mighty Dodgers for nine innings and continued into Saturday afternoon, but were unable to keep up starting in the 11th inning when the clock had ticked down more than three and a half hours.
The Dodgers changed leads seven times in the first 10 innings and made sure there was no eighth lead change with a seven-run charge against Sean Hjelle in his second inning. After intentionally forcing a walk on Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith cleared the bases with a two-run double as part of a streak of six straight hits. By the end of the rally, the Dodgers had doubled their run total and handed the Giants a sure 14-7 defeat in the second game of their series at Oracle Park.
When the Giants went to bat for the last time, all that was left of the announced 39,663 sold-out seats was a sea of Dodger cheering blue.
Hjelle was the Giants’ seventh pitcher in the game, which started with an opener, Erik Miller, who gave the Giants almost as much length as the Dodgers got from their traditional starter and staff ace Tyler Glasnow, who gave up five runs in three innings, making his shortest and least effective start of the season.
In comparison, the Dodgers’ seven runs in the 11th inning, in which both teams scored four runs each in the first innings, seem modest.
With nine men at bat, the Giants’ four runs in the third inning ended Glasnow’s afternoon, but it was just the beginning of the back-and-forth. The Dodgers responded with four runs of their own in the fourth inning, putting 10 men at bat against Spencer Howard and Randy Rodríguez to regain a 6-5 lead.
In total, the two half-innings lasted 38 minutes, while the teams fielded 19 batters who collected eight hits, managed five walks and scored eight runs.
A day after winning the Series opener, Brett Wisely tied the game at 6-6 with a two-out knock off left-hander Alex Vesia in the fifth inning. He didn’t tie the game, but instead hit a broken-bat single to center field that was so soft that Matt Chapman was able to run home from second base and tie the score at 6-6.
David Villar, who came on as a pinch hitter, extended the game with a double against Daniel Hudson in the 10th inning, scoring the Giants’ automatic runner and tying the score at 7-7.
Taylor Rogers, Ryan Walker and Camilo Doval held the Dodgers in check from the fifth inning onwards, using six strikeouts to put runners out in all but one inning. With the leadoff run on second base each time, Walker and Doval retired the duo of Teoscar Hernandez and Andy Pages in consecutive at-bats.
In a game in which the Giants had 13 hits and all but one player reached base safely at least once, Chapman had the most productive day of any San Francisco batter, hitting a double on his first attempt, adding two singles and walking to put the potentially game-winning run on base to start the ninth inning.
However, Chapman was just one of 14 runners the Giants left on base in a series of errors and missed opportunities they would surely regret.
In 23 opportunities with runners in scoring position, the Giants were able to get through only five times; perhaps no missed opportunity stung as much as the one in the bottom of the 10th inning after Villar scored the tying run and they had the bases loaded with just one out.
Bailey missed and Chapman retired the first pitch of his at-bat, ending the inning with just a single run.
Remarkable
LHP Blake Snell (groin) will have one more rehab assignment before returning to the Giants’ rotation. Snell will pitch for Triple-A Sacramento on Wednesday and is expected to return to the rotation for the first game of their final home game before the All-Star break.
In three innings for the River Cats on Friday, Snell allowed three runs on four hits while allowing six strikeouts and a walk and throwing 41 of his 62 pitches for strikes.
Also on Friday with a rehab start for Single-A San Jose, LHP Robbie Ray threw 48 pitches and threw 3⅔ scoreless innings. He and RHP Alex Cobbwho will make his first rehab appearance on Sunday in San Jose, both are expected back sometime after the All-Star break.
Next
The Giants list their starter as “TBA” and plan to use another opener in the series finale against LHP James Paxton (7-1, 3.39). The first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
