Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
There are not many holes on teams that hold the best record in Major League Baseball.
But the ones that can be found can be found by the Dodgers.
It took one game in Southern California to underscore the righty-bat problems that exist on the Giants’ bench during a 3-2 loss at Dodger Stadium on Monday, their second straight defeat but only their third in their past 13 games.
The NL West lead of San Francisco (50-28) is down to 2.5 over the Dodgers and four above the Padres before a fun Kevin Gausman-Walker Buehler showdown Tuesday to finish the brief, two-game set.
The Anthony DeSclafani-Trevor Bauer face-off did not quite live up to expectations, with each pitching OK but not dominant, in a game that first was about home runs and then about the Giants’ failures in big moments.
The Giants finished 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position, leaving 11 on base and not making the Dodgers pay for mistakes. It was the batters in the lineup who did not come through, but also those on the bench who were not trusted.
The Giants put two on in the seventh against lefty Victor Gonzalez, but Gabe Kapler did not go to Austin Slater and instead stuck with Alex Dickerson for one of the larger at-bats in the game. Slater is 4-for-36 (.111) this month and has looked lost at the plate. Dickerson harmlessly flew out, and Brandon Crawford tapped out to end the threat.
They put two more on base in the eighth against Blake Treinen, when the pitcher was due up. Slater and even Mauricio Dubon remained glued to the bench, and instead it was Curt Casali pinch-hitting. The backup catcher struck out, and LaMonte Wade Jr. popped out, and the Dodgers escaped once more.
It was curious Dubon never pinch-ran for Wilmer Flores, who has looked hobbled from his hamstring and went 4-for-4. There are concerns with the hot Giants, and there is concern for Mike Yastrzemski, too.
The Giants’ right fielder lined a pitch hard off his right shin in the seventh inning and was in obvious pain. He remained in the game for the at-bat — a strikeout — but was replaced by Mike Tauchman in the bottom of the inning.
It was a frustrating night for the Giants all-around, from a few questionable strikeouts from home-plate umpire Angel Hernandez to Tauchman getting thrown out in the ninth trying to stretch a single into a double. The replay was not conclusive, but Tauchman believed himself to be safe.
The offense they did muster — and the offense the Dodgers came up with — all resulted from home runs. Brandon Crawford knocked his 17th, which went 444 feet, the longest home run of the Statcast era for Crawford, and Wade his sixth in his short time with the Giants.
For the Dodgers, the damage was done early. The third pitch of the game for DeSclafani was a home run to Mookie Betts. The next batter, Max Muncy, went deep, too. The Giants-killer is 9-for-27 with six home runs against San Francisco this season. Will Smith’s dinger made the difference.
DeSclafani was OK, somewhere in between the dominant version of himself that has pitched against every other team this year and the disastrous version who faced LA on May 23.
He lasted five innings and allowed three runs — all on solo shots — while surrendered five hits and two walks. He missed spots too often, but his movement got him away with a few mistakes.
In three games against the Dodgers this season, DeSclafani has pitched 12 1/3 innings and allowed 15 runs on five home runs.
In 13 games against the rest of baseball this season, DeSclafani has pitched 80 1/3 innings and allowed 16 runs on six home runs.