LOS ANGELES — Every fan who walked into Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night got a Clayton Kershaw Fleece Blanket. A shocking number in the right-field seats also ended up with a game-used baseball.
Ryan Vogelsong gave up four homers — including three to the first six Dodgers batters — and lasted just three innings in his second start since returning to the rotation. The Giants never recovered from the shelling, falling 7-3 to the Dodgers.
The shame of it was that the Giants actually had a shot to beat Zack Greinke tonight. He has lost just once to an NL West team since signing with the Dodgers but he was far from his best, and the Giants went up early on a Brandon Belt RBI single. The good vibes lasted just a few minutes.
Joc Pederson hit Vogelsong’s first pitch — a low curveball — deep to right. Three batters later, Adrian Gonzalez crushed another curveball. After a walk of Scott Van Slyke, Vogelsong gave up a no-doubter to Andre Ethier.
The 37-year-old right-hander pitched a clean second inning but Jimmy Rollins smoked a fastball to lead off the third. It was the eighth homer allowed this season by Vogelsong, who has thrown just 19 1/3 innings. The Dodgers added another run before Vogelsong’s night came to an end.
The Giants have a flight home tonight, and you can bet that manager Bruce Bochy will huddle with Dave Righetti, Mark Gardner and Bobby Evans and talk about what comes next. Vogelsong has a 9.31 ERA through five appearances, three of them starts, and has a 2.02 WHIP. The Giants don’t have a day off on the coming homestand, so they’ll need to slide someone — Yusmeiro Petit is the likely choice — into the fifth spot if they don’t want to run Vogelsong back out there.
Starting pitching report: The Dodgers jumped on Vogelsong’s curveball, just like Jake Lamb did in Arizona during the opening series. Vogelsong has also allowed four homers on fastballs and one on a changeup. On Wednesday he became the first Giants starter since Matt Cain on April 29, 2013, to allow three homers in an inning. The last to allow three in the first inning? Madison Bumgarner, five seasons ago in Cincinnati. Vogelsong also became the first Giants pitcher since Kevin Correia in 2003 to allow four homers in a game at Dodger Stadium.
Bullpen report: Javier Lopez almost never gets to pitch a full inning anymore, but he got through right-handers Yasmani Grandal and Juan Uribe while pitching a perfect sixth.
At the plate: When Brandon Crawford makes contact this season, the ball is crying. The shortstop hit a laser shot over the right-field wall in the fourth inning. The two-run homer was his team-leading fourth of the season.
In the field: As mentioned above, Greinke was there for the taking, but he got a big boost from Ethier. Starting for the injured Yasiel Puig, Ethier went a long way in the second inning to make a spectacular diving catch on the edge of the warning track. The catch robbed Joe Panik of at least a two-run double.
Attendance: The Dodgers announced a crowd of 52,385 and tonight they did the wave right-to-left instead of left-to-right. I wonder how they decide.
Up next: A day off! And then, Mike Trout’s first visit to AT&T Park, so that should be fun to watch. If you like souvenir baseballs, Trout, Giancarlo Stanton and Michael Morse will all take BP at AT&T Park during a 10-game homestand. Also, expect Morse to get his World Series ring when the Marlins come into town. The matchup for Friday’s game: Chris Heston (2-2, 2.77 ERA) vs. Hair Model C.J. Wilson (1-2, 3.12).
