LOS ANGELES (AP) Brandon Crawford hit a shot to right field, and for a moment, it seemed San Francisco might finally break through.
The fly ball died on the warning track, though, and the Giants lost more ground to their NL West rival.
Rich Hill pitched six dominant innings in his first start with Los Angeles and Justin Turner hit his 24th homer, lifting the Dodgers over the Giants 1-0 on Wednesday night.
Crawford and the Giants came up just short and trail the Dodgers by three games for the division lead after losses Tuesday and Wednesday nights with Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto on the mound.
“We’re not panicking, I don’t think,” Crawford said. “We haven’t been playing well, but hopefully we turn it around. We’re taking it one game at a time. We’re not going to dwell on it. We’re going to be ready to play and hopefully get a win.”
Before Crawford batted with runners at the corners and two outs in the eighth, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made a visit to talk with reliever Joe Blanton. He left Blanton in the game, and then Crawford flew out to end the inning.
Roberts threw his arms up in celebration. It was the second important decision he made in the game – the first was taking Hill out after six shutout innings – and both worked.
“I wanted to go out there and look in (Blanton’s) eyes and check on him and see how he felt,” Roberts said. “He took a lot of energy with those first four hitters, but as I went out there, I just knew he had to stay in the game. It’s just the confidence I have in Joe Blanton.”
Cueto (14-4) threw six strong innings, holding the Dodgers to four hits and striking out six. Cueto didn’t allow a hit until Turner’s drive to left-center with one out in the third.
“It’s part of the game,” Cueto said. “You win 1-0, you lose 1-0, there’s nothing you can do. It’s part of the game. You just have to keep on grinding and keep your head up.”
Hill (1-0) was on the disabled list with a blister on his left middle finger when the Dodgers acquired him from the Oakland Athletics on Aug. 1 along with outfielder Josh Reddick. He allowed five hits and struck out three while throwing 81 pitches. He hadn’t pitched since July 17.
“He did a good job for them,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s got good stuff. He’s a tough pitcher, and we knew that coming in. We were getting hits. We were just spreading them out. We couldn’t get the big hit.
“We took some good swings. We just missed two or three balls there that went to the warning track. That’s the way it goes.”
Bochy is confident the Giants can put pitching, defense and hitting together and get back on track even after losing eight of their last 10 games.
“Oh no. They’ve been through this,” Bochy said. “This group is battle-tested. Every day, we think, `Hey, it’s our day to come out of this.’ We’re going after it. They’re going hard. We’re getting hits, putting pressure on them. They got the big hit, we didn’t.”
Angel Pagan saw his 19-game hit streak come to an end on Wednesday. He was 0-for-3 with a walk.
UP NEXT
Dodgers: RHP Ross Stripling (3-4, 4.04 ERA) had his only appearance against the Giants come in his MLB debut earlier this season, a game in which he threw 7 1/3 hitless innings before being removed after 100 pitches.
Giants: LHP Matt Moore (7-10, 4.18) is looking for his first win with San Francisco since coming over from the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 1. He is 0-3 with a 4.70 ERA in four starts for his new club.
