Misplays in field lead to second loss in row for the A’s
LOS ANGELES >> After the Giants stole the first two games of their season-opening series against the Dodgers, the other shoe was bound to drop. On Saturday, it did — with a thud.
In the midst of a 5-0 defeat, San Francisco committed a slew of defensive mistakes, allowing balls to trickle off gloves and out of mitts and fall onto the outfield grass at Dodger Stadium.
A second inning error by third baseman Evan Longoria, a fourth inning misplay by first baseman Brandon Belt and a fourth inning drop by center fielder Gregor Blanco were all gaffes that forced starter Derek Holland to labor more than he should have.
Following back-to-back 1-0 victories that provided the Giants with a newfound sense of hope after last season’s 64-98 record, manager Bruce Bochy’s club took a step backward Saturday night by committing the type of blunders on offense and defense it hoped to leave behind.
While Dodgers’ righthander Kenta Maeda was busy racking up 10 strikeouts over five scoreless innings, Holland couldn’t keep Los Angeles off the base paths, despite allowing just three hits over five innings.
“The thing that’s disappointing more than anything is the walks, that’s what killed us,” Holland said. “You take those three walks away, they scored. You can’t defend a walk. That’s the worst part.”
A Giants team that went 18 innings without allowing a run wound up trailing 1-0 after a Yasiel Puig sacrifice fly brought Chris Taylor home in the bottom of the first. Left fielder Matt Kemp followed with an RBI single to plate Kiké Hernández, and the 2-0 deficit the Giants faced proved to be too much to overcome anyway.
Though Longoria’s error didn’t lead to any runs, a pickoff attempt from catcher Buster Posey that tipped off of Belt’s glove allowed Cody Bellinger to advance to second base in the bottom of the fourth.
Bellinger shouldn’t have scored that inning, but a routine flyball into the right center field gap caught the attention of both Blanco and right fielder Andrew McCutchen. As the players ran toward one another, they both attempted to call each other off before Blanco stepped in front of McCutchen and the ball plopped out of his glove.
“It’s just one of those crazy plays that happen,” McCutchen said. “You go in no man’s land and both guys are trying to go after the ball and something like that ends up happening. They score two runs off of that and you hate that.”
The Dodgers took a 5-0 lead, and the Giants were on their way to their first loss of 2018.
While a franchise that prioritized rebuilding its defense this offseason didn’t help itself, the Giants’ bats fell silent yet again.
After Clayton Kershaw allowed one run over six innings Thursday, Alex Wood kept the Giants’ scoreless with eight innings of onehit ball Friday. If not for Joe Panik’s heroics, the complexion of the series looks entirely different.
For the third straight day, the Giants struggled with runners in scoring position, finishing 0 for 10 in those situations. Neither Longoria or McCutchen looked comfortable at the plate, as both players were saddled with hitless nights for the second day in a row.
“Nine hits and nothing to show for it, right now it’s just a matter of getting the key hit,” Bochy said. “We haven’t gotten a hit with men in scoring position yet. That’s not going to work.”
With the Giants trailing 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth, Bochy lifted Posey and Longoria from the game, inserting Pablo Sandoval at third base and Nick Hundley behind the plate.
The Giants delayed the Dodgers’ first celebration of 2018 as long as they could, because even if San Francisco had locked up a series victory Saturday, Los Angeles still honored its 2017 team with National League championship rings, commemorating a team that fell short of its ultimate goal.