Pegged as the favorites to compete for the National League West crown this season, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants began their series Monday night with both teams under .500 for the first time since July 2013.
At 6-13, the Giants entered the series at the bottom of the NL standings and with the second-worst record in the Majors. Records and other factors tend to go out the window when longtime rivals meet. Such was the case for Matt Cain.
He turned back the clock by throwing six shutout innings. Cain allowed just two hits and was removed only due to injury — later revealed to be hamstring tightness. It was the first time he completed six scoreless innings since July 7, 2015.
Hyun-Jin Ryu allowed one run over six innings, and the Dodgers had multiple looks at the game late. Justin Turner singled with one out in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He then aggressively took second base on a Mark Melancon pitch that bounced in the dirt.
However, with Adrian Gonzalez batting, Turner was back-picked by Buster Posey to end the game. The Dodgers third baseman assumed full blame for the gaffe, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“Just a bad, bad – bad – baseball play,” Turner said. “That can’t happen in that situation. I got a good secondary (lead), was trying to score on a hit, took a step towards third on the swing and got caught.”
Turner’s mistake came one inning after Chris Taylor ran into an out. Taylor’s RBI forceout cut the Giants’ lead in half in the eighth. But two batters later, he was caught stealing to end the inning, leaving Corey Seager at the plate.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said following the loss that Taylor ran on his own accord. Cain earned the win, his first against the Dodgers since May 5, 2013. Los Angeles enters Tuesday winless in their past six games at AT&T Park, and have lost 17 of their last 21 games in the Giants home ballpark.
