Giants drop below .500 as mistake proves costly
LOS ANGELES — The Giants lead the Majors with 112 errors this 12 months, nevertheless it was a psychological mistake that loomed largest on Thursday evening at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers scored the go-ahead run on J.D. Martinez’s sacrifice fly after veteran proper fielder Mike Yastrzemski forgot what number of outs there have been within the sixth inning, sinking the Giants to an excruciating 7-2 loss that dropped them beneath .500 for the primary time since June 4, after they have been 29-30.
San Francisco has misplaced six of seven video games to open this 10-game highway journey to Colorado, Arizona and Los Angeles, all however extinguishing the membership’s playoff hopes. The Giants fell to a Major League-worst 5-26 in highway video games since July 19, marking their worst 31-game stretch away from dwelling since 1902.
“Not crisp enough across the board, obviously,” supervisor Gabe Kapler mentioned. “It’s just not good enough to win baseball games against good teams. It’s not good enough to win baseball games consistently at all.”
The Giants have been held hitless over 4 2/3 innings by Dodgers rookie Emmet Sheehan, who struck out a career-high 9 however gave up one run after issuing a bases-loaded stroll to Tyler Fitzgerald within the fifth.
Former Dodger Joc Pederson tied the sport at 2-2 with a towering solo shot off lefty Alex Vesia within the sixth, however Los Angeles capitalized on defensive errors to regain the lead within the backside half of the inning.
Will Smith despatched a drive into the right-center-field hole that popped out of the glove of a diving Fitzgerald and kicked away for a one-out triple. That introduced up Martinez, who lifted a routine fly ball to Yastrzemski in proper subject.
Yastrzemski, apparently considering there have been two outs, caught the ball and commenced to jog again to the Giants’ dugout earlier than realizing that Smith was tagging up and trying to attain from third. His last-minute throw ended up being off the mark, permitting Smith to simply come dwelling and put the Dodgers forward, 3-2.
“When you cost your team like that, it’s never a good feeling,” Yastrzemski mentioned. “I can’t remember the last time I did it, but it happened. It’s kind of an inexcusable, bad mistake that just can’t happen.”
Los Angeles padded its lead from there, scoring two runs on a pair of untamed pitches by Luke Jackson within the seventh earlier than including two extra runs within the eighth.
The defeat encapsulated the myriad points which have plagued the Giants and prompted them to slide out of the playoff image within the second half: sloppy protection, a punchless offense and an incapacity to unravel their extended highway woes.
“I think there’s a way we can play with a little more edge in every game,” Yastrzemski mentioned. “I believe I’ve seen it — we’ve all seen it — the place we come out firing and issues are going properly, after which there’s occasions the place we simply come out flat.
“I think it’s just an attitude thing where we should take a little more pride in our work. We’ve got to look in the mirror, myself first, more than anybody. It’s just one of those things where I think there are times where we deserve to be embarrassed, kind of like we are right now.”
As they drift nearer to elimination, the Giants’ priorities are anticipated to shift towards improvement and giving extra alternatives to younger gamers who could be a part of the combo in 2024 and past, together with Fitzgerald and shortstop Marco Luciano, who mixed to go 2-for-5 with two walks after being recalled from Triple-A Sacramento on Thursday.
Fitzgerald, a 2019 fourth-round Draft decide, is a pure shortstop, like Luciano, however he has performed all around the infield and began getting reps within the outfield within the Minors this 12 months. The 26-year-old began in heart in his Major League debut and picked up his first hit, a two-out double off Shelby Miller, within the seventh.
“To be here is just a blessing,” Fitzgerald mentioned. “A dream come true.”
Another vibrant spot was left-hander Kyle Harrison, who gave up two runs on three hits over 5 1/3 innings in his first profession begin at Dodger Stadium. Harrison struck out two and walked one, however he was pulled after 75 pitches after coming down with an sickness that made him a “50-50 kind of gametime decision,” per Kapler.
“He grinded as best he could and fought through that start for us,” Kapler mentioned. “We got him out of there to protect him. Physically, it was plenty for him after the last 24 hours.”
