The Giants entered their weekend three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-4 on this current road trip with an impressive series win over the Washington Nationals and a disappointing series loss to the Miami Marlins.
But though the latter series was capped with a 6-3 win, it took 16 innings to do so, delaying getaway day significantly.
Thus, there was a strong possibility of fatigue for the team’s players in Friday’s series opener with the Dodgers. And whether it was this fatigue, the dominance of resurgent Dodgers starter Ross Stripling, or a combination of both, the Giants came out flat and ultimately fell to Dodgers by a score of 3-2.
The Dodgers opened the game’s scoring in the bottom of the first when Kike Hernandez lined a solo home run to left-center off Giants starter Derek Holland. Matt Kemp, enjoying a similarly resurgent season, added a solo shot of his own to center in the fourth. The Dodgers then added on in the fourth when Yasmani Grandal reached third on an error by Giants center fielder Austin Jackson and then scored on a Yasiel Puig double.
The Giants were able to answer in the seventh as Pablo Sandoval flipped an opposite-field home run just out of the reach of Kemp and over the Dodger Stadium left-field wall, reducing the deficit to 3-2 and knocking Stripling out of the game, but were unable to answer back any further and ultimately fell by that deficit.
