Kershaw surrenders five, rally falls short in Dodgers loss

LOS ANGELES – For the third game in a row, the Dodgers won the last half of the game. Unfortunately, the game does not begin in the fifth inning. Once again, your Los Angeles Dodgers spotted the Giants a lead. Once again, they waged a valiant late-inning comeback. And once again, they came up just short. This time, they were outlasted by the Giants 5-4. The Dodgers, after winning the first four games of the season series, have now dropped three in a row.

Kershaw has rocky start

On Sunday, it was Clayton Kershaw who had the sub-par start. Starting in the three-run first inning, Kersh struggled through much of the day. Though he threw 104 pitches, Kershaw only landed 64 strikes, walking three along the way. The first inning proved to be Kershaw’s undoing. He started the game giving up two straight singles, and then uncorked a wild pitch, so barely ten pitches into the game, the lefty ace was in deep trouble.

Kershaw was able to get a strikeout from Wilmer Flores for the first out, but the next hitter, Evan Longoria, grounded out to short, enabling leadoff man Austin Slater to scamper home from third with the game’s first run. Then, on the very next pitch, Mauricio Dubon homered to left field, scoring two. Just like that, it was 3-0 Giants and the Dodgers were yet to pick up the lumber.

It was a start very reminiscent of Saturday’s game, when the Giants came out of the gate with all barrels blazing. Unlike Julio Urias, Clayton was able to right the ship a bit with a 1-2-3 second inning. However, the Giants got a single run in the fifth on an Austin Slater homer, and another in the fourth inning in the unlikeliest of ways. After a single from Dubon and a walk to Steven Duggar, Kershaw got two quick outs, bringing pitcher Kevin Gausman to the plate. Though he had only three hits for the entire year, Gausman was able to squirt a single through the left side to score Dubon with the game’s fifth run. It seemed like just an add-on run in an easy victory at the time, but it would turn out to be the margin of victory. For the day, Kershaw’s line was pretty meh: 6 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 6 K.

Gausman sharp in victory

As for Kershaw’s opponent Gausman, he was the much better pitcher today. He only surrendered two Dodger hits over 6.0 innings of work, and struck out seven. The Dodgers’ bats were kept completely in check by a strong performance from Gausman, who lowered his ERA to an impressive 1.40 for the season. However, Gausman had to exit the game after only 72 pitches with some hip tightness. That’s when the Dodgers offense finally came to life.

Max Muncy doing Max Muncy things

Austin Barnes greeted new reliever Zack Littell with a double and the Dodgers started to show a pulse. After two quick strikeouts, hot-hitting Max Muncy came to the plate. And, of course, Max Muncy continued to feast on the Giants’ pitching. He pounced on a 2-0 four-seamer and pulverized the pitch, sending it over the centerfield fence. There were two outs in the eighth, but finally the Dodgers were on the board.

Pujols does it again

After a clean top of the ninth inning from reliever Alex Vesia, the Dodgers went into their last at bat trailing by three. And, getting a little lucky, leadoff man Cody Bellinger was able to reach on a throwing error from ex-Dodger reliever Jake McGee. After a Gavin Lux, strikeout, up came veteran slugger Albert Pujols. And for the second straight night, the Angels castoff hit a homerun, depositing a McGee fastball into the Dodgers bullpen. Suddenly, the Dodgers were within one run with two outs to go.

But it was not to be. Four pitches later the game was over. Pinch hitter Will Smith was called out on strikes, and then Austin Barnes popped up to shallow right on the first pitch he saw. Game over. 5-4 Giants.

St. Louis in for three on Monday

So now, the Dodger hot/cold season has entered another cold snap. They have now lost four of five. No time to lick wounds, though. The Cardinals come into town to face Trevor Bauer on Monday night. This would be a perfect time for Bauer to step up and earn a bit of that paycheck. Since it’s a holiday, the game starts at 6:10. Local boy Jack Flaherty brings his eight wins into Dodger Stadium for what figures to be another game where hits and runs are at a premium. Let’s go Dodgers. I don’t think I have another 5-15 stretch in me.