San Francisco Giants swept by Dodgers in another pitching duel, one run game

September 2, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants second baseman Kelby Tomlinson (37) reacts after scoring a run in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t care who is tired of hearing me say it. Torture. San Francisco Giants baseball is torture. There’s really no better way to describe. Heck, even Matt Duffy was chewing his nails Wednesday night. Didn’t I tell you? Edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting baseball.

And it continued for the third night in a row in LA. You think our guys aren’t frustrated? Au contraire, mon ami‒our skipper, Bruce Bochy got bounced from the game for a second night in a row.

You can tell I’m upset when I start with the French, when I’m happy? Italian.

One thing I’ll say about Wednesday’s game. It kept with the theme of a pitching duel, one–run game. It would have been nice if it had gone the other way.

The Dodgers scored a run in the second, and the Giants finally tied it up in the sixth‒Kelby Tomlinson led-off the inning with a walk, stole second–his first big league steal–and scored on Angel Pagan’s two out single. Game tied.

But not for long.

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The Dodgers hit a home run in their half of the inning. It was hit by former Phillies Chase Utley‒yes, Utley finally came to play. He picked a great night to come to life as a Dodger. For those who don’t recognize it, that was sarcasm.

Clayton Kershaw was on the mound for the Dodgers and he struck out 15 Giants before the night was over. He pitched a complete game and it’s his first victory over the Giants this year. Good for him. Sarcasm again.

The Giants fought long and hard, staying with it until the last pitch was thrown in the ninth.

There was plenty of frustration to go around‒runners were getting picked off, Bochy was getting ticked off. But one really frustrating play happened when a Dodger attempted to steal second.

Buster Posey threw a laser beam straight to Ehire Adrianza, who applied the tag on the runner’s helmet. The problem was his helmet was not on his head when the tag was applied. The helmet was out but the runner was safe at second.

The good news is there seemed to be some mercy granted by the baseball gods, the next hitter sent a line drive to centerfield, looking like a gapper, but Pagan wasn’t about to let it drop‒he snagged the ball right out of the air and turned it right back to second base to make it a double play. Justice served.

The Giants put on full battle gear (mentally) in the late innings after getting the run in the sixth. But they left runners on base in the seventh and eighth, and two runners on in the ninth‒and both were two out hits. It just wasn’t meant to be, I guess. The final score was: Giants 1, Dodgers 2

That’s it folks. No, that’s not it. The Giants face the Dodgers at home later this month. I’m looking for a different result.

Swept. By the Dodgers. The shoe does not fit on the other foot. In fact, it pinches quite a bit. I suppose you can get philosophical and say the Dodgers were owed…nah, that’s not it.

I’m just going to keep repeating my mantra. The Giants are the greatest team in the MLB. I don’t care what your scoreboard says.

Oh, and Dodgers? We’ll see you in San Francisco.