The Dodgers sat patiently through an hour’s worth of pregame pageantry for Hunter Pence, then proceeded to do what they’ve done for most of this season — boat race the Giants.
San Francisco took an early lead, but Sean Hjelle coughed up six runs in the third and allowed the Dodgers to bat through the order. Giants fans who arrived early for the pomp and circumstance of yesteryears had little reason to stay late.
With Saturday’s 7-2 loss, the Giants (69-76) are now 4-14 against the Dodgers this year. They’ve never lost more than 14 matchups in a single season. Los Angeles, on pace for a franchise-record winning season and with by far the best scoring margin in MLB, has outscored San Francisco 95 to 52 on the year.
One night after tallying two hits in a shutout loss, the Giants scratched across two runs on five knocks. Another inevitable Dodgers victory was hardly ever in question.
In the lopsided defeat, the Giants actually led 1-0 thanks to a pair of uncharacteristic defensive mishaps — one from Trea Turner and another from Freddie Freeman.
Last year, the Giants and Dodgers were neck-and-neck. This year, it’s often felt like San Francisco needs help to even score against the Dodgers.
Sean Hjelle, activated for the bullpen game and one outing removed from his best appearance of his MLB career, allowed six earned runs on eight hits. When the Giants needed him to eat innings, he excused himself from the table after recording three outs.
The 6-foot-11 righty served up a fastball down the middle to Trayce Thompson, who socked a two-run homer. He yielded a double to Joey Gallo, tugged a pickoff attempt, and couldn’t plug any holes in the third as LA strung together five consecutive singles before getting out.
The last time Hjelle pitched in a bulk-inning role, he tossed five strong innings of one-run ball in Milwaukee. This time, he only recorded three outs, allowed six earned runs and left the bases loaded in the third. San Francisco needed him to play a major role in their bullpen game in place of injured starter Alex Wood.
Neither Hjelle nor Heliot Ramos, the two reinforcements, impressed. Ramos, once SF’s top prospect, struck out twice and grounded out softly in an 0-for-4 night.
In his 1,000th career game, Wilmer Flores hit his career-high 19th home run of the season — but that was just about the only worthwhile Giants highlight.
By the fourth inning, the Dodgers led 7-2. Fans had turned their Hunter Pence novelty foam fingers into hats and snakes.
The development of young players like Ramos, Hjelle, David Villar and others matters much more than results this September. Everyone in the Bay Area knows the Giants won’t make the playoffs this year, the newest Wall of Fame inductee included.
“The Giants are coming back next year,” Pence said in his pregame speech. “They’re going to finish strong. They’re going to finish strong. We’re out of the playoffs, but they’re going to get better because of this season…The Giants will never quit.”
Pence also called the Giants-Dodgers rivalry the “juice of life.”
This year, the Giants have gotten pulped.
