LOS ANGELES, CA — On Monday night, the Giants beat the Dodgers, 9-3, behind some decent pitching from their rookie starter Trevor McDonald to hand the struggling Los Angeles club their third straight loss. San Francisco managed to score those nine runs on 12 hits with their first hit coming off the bat of Rafael Devers, Sanchez, Dominican Republic, who gave the Giants an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when he hit a 401-foot home run into the right-center field pavilion.
Other than that, it was mostly singles and walks that did the Dodgers in though Giants manager Tony Vitello credited Devers for getting it all started.
“I think his night is a good place to start just because the lineup feeds off him a little bit,” the first year manager said of the 29-year-old left-handed Dominican slugger. “I think it’s unfair to put too much responsibility on someone’s shoulders or ask them to be who they’re not.
“I don’t think Rafi is ever going to be like a direct traffic guy, like a point guard or a quarterback, but he really is a team leader for a lot of reasons. When he’s vibing, it’s impossible not to be in the same mood that he is. He’s fun to be around, he’s comedic, and then he also wants to win. He kind of has that mojo or vibe going right now, and I think other guys kind of fall in line with it.”
The return of Mookie Betts to the Dodger lineup after missing more than a month because of a right oblique strain did not help LA Monday evening, but they know that the 2018 American League MVP will absolutely boost both their offense as well as their defense.
Mookie Betts returned to the Dodgers lineup Monday night after missing over a month due to a right oblique strain – Image Credit: Francisco Rodriguez/Latino Sports
“I know I’m not the hero. It’s going to take us all. It kind of is what it is,” Betts said Monday. “We’re going to go through our ups and downs. It’s important for everyone to know it’s going to take all of us and not just one guy getting through their struggles or whatever it is.”
Plus, you can’t really say the Dodgers are struggling as they are only one-half game behind the now first-place Padres in the NL West division.
On the mound, Roki Sasaki pitched well enough to win, leaving the game with a line of five innings pitched, six hits, three runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. McDonald, who was 1-0 with a 2.92 ERA leading up to the outing, was cruising through the LA lineup until the fourth inning, when Freddie Freeman led off with a single, followed by three more singles that netted LA two runs.
Max Muncy hit a game-tying home run to make it, 3-3, Muncy’s 11th home run of the season and seventh on the year at Dodger Stadium.
But then the game changed significantly when Sasaki was relieved by Alex Vesia, who struck out the first batter he faced and then gave up three singles in a row, followed by a walk, giving San Francisco a 6-3 lead.
Coming into game one of this four-game series, the Giants were 16-24, and the Dodgers were 24-16. Los Angeles knows they need to take advantage of clubs like the Giants to keep pace with the Padres this season in their race for the division title. This Dodger team is better than what we’ve seen since mid-April, and it is about time they start showing people why they are back-to-back World Series Champions.
On Tuesday, LA will send out Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 3-2, 3.09 ERA, in the hopes of stopping this three-game losing streak. The Giants will counter with Adrian Houser, 0-4, 6.49 ERA.
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