Dodgers held in check by Logan Webb as Giants avoid sweep
Webb holds the Dodgers scoreless for six innings and the Giants prevail, 4-1, their first win in six games against the Dodgers this season.
SAN FRANCISCO — They chant it nightly, regardless of the score – “Beat L-A!” They finally did it for the first time in awhile.
Giants ace Logan Webb held the Dodgers scoreless for six innings and prevented a sweep by the SoCal visitors with a 4-1 victory for the San Francisco Giants.
The win was the Giants’ first in six meetings with the Dodgers this season.
Playing with house money after winning the first two games, the Dodgers tried to steal some more without spending any of their pitching capital. They called down the road to Sacramento, where their Triple-A team was playing, and promoted right-handers Elieser Hernandez and Eduardo Salazar.
The two combined to keep alive the Dodgers’ streak of allowing four runs or fewer – but just barely. It has been 22 consecutive games now.
“You want to win every game you play. It’s not about sweeping. When you lose, you lose,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said.
“They (Hernandez and Salazar) gave us a great job. We just didn’t get the hit tonight.”
Making his first major-league start since 2022 with the Miami Marlins, Elieser Hernandez was everything the Dodgers could have hoped. He held the Giants to three runs in six innings, two on a front-row home run by Mike Yastrzemski, just over the high wall in right field.
“He pitched really well, got us six strong innings,” Dodgers catcher Will Smith said. “He gave up the one homer to Yastrzemski, but that’s probably a pop fly in most places. It just happened to get out tonight.”
Hernandez got the word Tuesday night that he would be making the drive to San Francisco. The 90 miles covered a lot of distance for Hernandez, whose career was sidetracked by shoulder injuries last year.
“It was really exciting,” he said in Spanish. “I had a lot of injuries last season, but the important thing is that I’m healthy now and enjoying the opportunity they’re giving me.”
Asked why he had chosen to sign with the Dodgers and try to rebuild his career, Hernandez smiled.
“Who doesn’t want to be here?” the 29-year-old said.
“Trust me, I’ve learned so many things about myself that I didn’t even know about. So that’s been great.”
Roberts said Hernandez will stay with the Dodgers and pitch out of the bullpen after getting a few days off, giving the Dodgers a reliever with some length.
“I thought he came out and he was executing pitches, was locating his heaters, his little slider was working really well, keeping them off balance,” Smith said.
The Dodgers had their chances against Webb.
A leadoff single by Mookie Betts, a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases with one out in the first inning. But Webb struck out Max Muncy and got Teoscar Hernandez to fly out harmlessly to right field.
“He never gives in,” Smith said of Webb. “It’s really good stuff. He’s obviously a good pitcher. He was bearing down in the first inning, was able to escape with a zero. You just tip your cap and try to get him the next inning. I thought we stuck to our plan. We made him pitch, made it really hard on him and we just didn’t cash in some runs. That happens sometimes.”
The Dodgers had their next best chance to score against Webb in the fourth inning when Teoscar Hernandez led off with a drive to the wall in straightaway center field. Giants center fielder Luis Matos crashed into the wall as he made a spectacular catch, robbing Hernandez of a home run.
They stranded two more in the fifth inning before Webb handed it off to the bullpen.
“He’s one of the better pitchers in the game. So when you have opportunities, you’ve got to cash them in,” Freeman said. “Once we didn’t cash that in (with the bases loaded in the first), he started finding the strike zone a little bit more. He lives at the bottom of the zone. We got him up. We had pitches to hit. We just didn’t get the hit.”
Roberts lamented the wasted opportunity in the first inning, in particular.
“We had maybe one opportunity,” he said. “We had him (in the first inning). But then at that point in time, I think we started hitting some ‘atom’ balls, and then he got some strikeouts when he needed.”
The Dodgers finally broke through against the Giants’ bullpen in the eighth but only for one run. Singles by Freeman and Will Smith put runners at the corners with no outs. Muncy drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. But Teoscar Hernandez struck out and Gavin Lux grounded out weakly.
Shohei Ohtani went 2 for 4 with a pair of singles and a walk. But the two outs were strikeouts on called third strikes that left him walking away from the plate, shaking his head at umpire Hunter Wendelstedt’s decision-making.
“Those balls could have gone either way. So I’d rather him do that and stick to his approach,” Roberts said. “There’s gonna be some borderline calls that are gonna go against us. But Shohei, his at-bat quality has been fantastic, and he still threw out a couple hits tonight, took a walk.”