As others postpone, Giants, Dodgers return to the field for a blowout at Oracle Park
SAN FRANCISCO — The 2020 baseball season has brought unprecedented challenges for players, coaches and executives as they’ve had to navigate the coronavirus pandemic, respond to and grapple with the repeated examples of racial injustice and police brutality across the country and play a condensed 60-game season under increasingly complicated circumstances.
Fewer than 24 hours after the Giants and Dodgers agreed to postpone their scheduled game on Wednesday in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wis. on Sunday, the teams returned to the diamond at Oracle Park Thursday to play a pair of seven-inning games under MLB’s temporary doubleheader format.
It’s practically impossible for baseball to feel normal given the state of the country, but Giants fans who watched Thursday’s matinee saw a familiar site on their televisions.
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw has spent much of his career dominating the Giants and the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader was no different as the left-hander tossed six shutout innings in a 7-0 Giants loss.
A defeat snapped the Giants’ win streak at seven games and cost them a chance to climb back to .500 for the first time since they were 5-5 on August 2. After battling back from four separate deficits to win a 10-8 walk-off thriller on Tuesday, the Giants had no late-inning magic in their bats as most of their hard-hit balls were gobbled up by Dodgers gloves on Thursday.
Wilmer Flores and Darin Ruf were among the Giants hitters robbed of base hits by sensational catches from outfielders Cody Bellinger and A.J. Pollock while Tuesday’s walk-off hero, Donovan Solano, had an at-bat taken away when Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts nearly launched himself into the first row of the stands to corral a flyball in the fourth inning.
Coming off the worst outing of his career against the Giants on August 8 in which he allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings, Kershaw returned to the form he’s showed in 50 other games against San Francisco and struck out four hitters.
Giants rookie right-hander Logan Webb lasted just 3 2/3 innings against Los Angeles as a four-run fourth inning proved to be his downfall. Webb opened the inning with a walk to Pollock and allowed a pair of softly hit singles including one to Chris Taylor on a groundball that likely would have been a 4-6-3 double play if it wasn’t a perfectly executed hit-and-run.
The loudest contact Webb allowed came when catcher Austin Barnes, the weakest link in a loaded Dodgers lineup, slammed a two-run double into the left field corner to break the game open. Kapler pulled Webb after a Mookie Betts groundout, but he was charged with a fifth and final run when Corey Seager hit a slow-roller to the left side of the infield that left third baseman Evan Longoria with no chance to make a play.
Giants manager Gabe Kapler indicated the teams didn’t seriously consider postponing Thursday’s doubleheader on a day when five other MLB games were called off as players protested in response to Blake’s shooting. None of the games postponed Thursday involved the teams that also chose not to play Wednesday.
Prior to Thursday’s games, Kapler said the Giants engaged in several hours of conversations Wednesday on how they could best collectively respond to social issues and pointed out the importance of voting as a way to ensure voices can be heard.
“I think one of the things we’ve continually told our players and our staff, anybody that will listen, is the most important thing that we can do right now is to use our voices,” Kapler said. “I think voting is the absolute most powerful way we can use our voice.”
Giants center fielder Mike Yastrzemski, who has emerged as the face of the 2020 team and a key clubhouse leader this season, said he believes there’s a civil way to inspire change and hopes decisions to postpone games will lead to action.
“I’m not a politician. I’m not a bill writer,” Yastrzemski said. “I’m just an athlete who has some own personal views because of my personal experience and people that I know. I hope something good will come out of this.”
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