Sam Hentges entered with two Dodgers aboard in the third inning and struck out Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. For the San Francisco Giants, that was the afternoon in miniature: another pitcher, another difficult assignment, another way through. It worked until the tenth, when Los Angeles broke a 1-1 tie and won 5-1 at Oracle Park.
San Francisco used 10 pitchers, with the first nine allowing one run through regulation. That run did not arrive until the fourth inning. Before then, Carson Seymour opened with a clean first, striking out Mookie Betts between outs by Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman.
Joel Kuhnel worked around a Max Muncy walk in the second. The Giants led 1-0 after Scott Bandura’s single scored Shay Whitcomb, who had singled and stolen second.
The Dodgers’ first significant threat came in the third. Seth Lonsway allowed singles to Tommy Edman and Ohtani with one out, but Sam Hentges entered and struck out Betts and Freeman to end the inning. That handoff mattered. Los Angeles had placed two runners on, yet San Francisco prevented the chance from becoming more than a chance.
The fourth brought the tying run, though the inning unfolded through several separate moments. Kyle Tucker reached on a fielding error by Jonah Cox. Teoscar Hernández then lined out before Muncy doubled, putting runners at second and third. Hentges was replaced by Braxton Roxby, and Andy Pages’ sacrifice fly scored Tucker. Roxby then walked Hunter Feduccia before retiring Edman to finish the inning.
The Giants had lost their lead, but the Dodgers still had only one run through four innings. That distinction is important because the San Francisco staff was not failing repeatedly; it was absorbing individual threats without letting most of them become runs.
The middle innings continued that pattern. Roxby finished the fifth without allowing a run, and Dylan Smith handled the Dodgers in the sixth without allowing a hit. Jason Foley began the seventh for San Francisco and allowed Edman’s double. Dalton Rushing grounded out to move Edman to third, but Foley then retired Miguel Rojas and Enrique Hernández, leaving the potential go-ahead run stranded.
There was no single overpowering performance carrying the staff. The value was in the succession. Trent Harris allowed singles to Tucker and Muncy in the eighth, but Pages grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Camilo Doval walked Edman in the ninth; Edman stole second, yet Doval struck out Rojas to preserve the tie. Each pitcher gave the next one a manageable score, even as the Dodgers kept finding ways to put someone aboard.
That work mattered because the Giants’ offense supplied almost no margin. Bandura’s second-inning single was the only San Francisco hit that produced a run. The Giants finished with five hits, two walks and 16 strikeouts.