San Francisco – The Dodgers came out swinging and dominated early, combining two home runs with strong pitching to defeat the Giants 2-0 in the opening game of the final series of the season. Tarik Skubal put on a pitching clinic, shutting down San Francisco’s lineup while striking out 10 over seven innings. He allowed just three hits on 75 pitches as the game lasted just one hour and 53 minutes.
“That was a pretty damn good outing, even by the highest of standards,” said Giants manager Tony Vitello.”
In front of a sellout crowd at Oracle Park, LA struck early to take a 2-0 lead. Teoscar Hernández opened the game with a fly ball to right field, followed by a lineout from Max Muncy. Andy Pages then launched a solo home run to left field, giving Los Angeles an early advantage and putting San Francisco in a hole from the start.
While the Giants tightened up defensively and managed to shut down the Dodgers offense after the early runs, they could not get their own bats going. San Francisco managed just three hits throughout the game. Victor Bericoto singled in the first inning but was thrown out at second base on a throw from center field, ending the frame. Scott Bandura added a single on a line drive, but Christian Koss was retired on a sacrifice bunt to first base before Jonah Cox struck out to end the inning. In the seventh, Bo Davidson singled on a ground ball, but Andrew Knizner followed with a flyout to end the inning.
The Giants struggled to string together hits or create any sustained offense, leaving their three hits with little impact as the Dodgers held on for the 2-0 victory.
