Bandura Reached Second, and the Giants’ Offense Went Nowhere

Scott Bandura reached second base in the third inning, and the San Francisco Giants never put another runner that close to home. He singled against Tarik Skubal, moved up on Christian Koss’ sacrifice bunt and stayed stranded when Jonah Cox struck out. It was the Giants’ best position of the night in a 2-0 loss to the Dodgers at Oracle Park on Friday.

That inning captured the offensive problem without requiring much decoration. San Francisco had a runner in scoring position, an out to work with and a two-run deficit that remained entirely manageable. The next at-bat ended the threat. The Giants finished with three hits, no walks and 14 strikeouts, a combination that left very little room for a comeback to develop.

Skubal deserves the primary credit. He worked seven scoreless innings, allowed three hits, struck out 10 and did not issue a walk. His 75 pitches included 60 strikes, and the Giants never assembled the kind of repeated traffic that can make even a two-run lead uncomfortable.

After Bandura’s third-inning single, San Francisco went down in order in the fourth, fifth and sixth before finally producing another baserunner.

The middle innings were particularly unforgiving. The fourth ended with strikeouts of Brett Harris, Victor Bericoto and Bo Davidson. In the fifth, Andrew Knizner and Marcelo Mayer produced outs before Shay Whitcomb struck out.

The sixth began with Bandura and Koss striking out, followed by Cox grounding out on a bunt. With nobody reaching base, Skubal could finish the inning without facing a batter who represented the tying run.

There was no alternative form of offense underneath the strikeout total. The Giants’ three hits were all singles, they drew no walks and no runner reached third base. Their lone sacrifice bunt advanced Bandura, but the lineup did not follow it with a ball in play capable of bringing him home.

A team can survive empty at-bats when extra-base hits or free passes keep an inning alive. San Francisco had neither.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, did not need a large offensive performance. Teoscar Hernández opened the second inning with a solo home run. After Max Muncy lined out, Andy Pages hit another solo shot. Those were the only two runs Los Angeles needed. The Giants had allowed two solo shots and still found themselves facing a deficit they could not reduce over the seven innings that followed.

San Francisco’s other opportunities were thinner. Victor Bericoto singled in the first but was thrown out trying to advance to second. Bo Davidson singled with two outs in the seventh, only for Knizner to fly out.

In the eighth, Roki Sasaki struck out Marcelo Mayer and Bandura around Drew Gilbert’s foul pop. Tanner Scott then finished the ninth with strikeouts of Koss and Cox before Harris lined out. The late innings were not a series of missed rallies; they were mostly short visits to the batter’s box.

The score left San Francisco’s pitchers with very little protection. Yunior Marte allowed six hits and the two home runs, but he held Los Angeles to two runs over five innings and issued only one walk. Sam Hentges, Joel Kuhnel and Dylan Smith each followed with a scoreless inning.

Tristan Beck also preserved the 2-0 score in the ninth after Brett Harris committed an error at first and Will Smith singled. Beck’s double play removed two Dodgers from the bases, but Freddie Freeman remained at third with two outs; Teoscar Hernández’s foul pop to second finally ended the inning.

The Giants received enough run prevention to keep the game available. Bandura’s throw had also helped cut down Enrique Hernández in the second, and another throw erased Will Smith at second in the third, so the defense gave the lineup a chance to stay within reach. But the offense never supplied a sustained answer.

Against Skubal’s control and a bullpen that added four strikeouts in the final two innings, San Francisco needed one connected inning and never found it. Bandura got to second in the third. Nobody got him home, and nobody else reached second afterward.

Sources

Official game data

Official game box score