Rich Hill sharp in return, but Dodgers fall to Giants again

This might shock you, but the Dodgers played another close game with their fiercest rival on Tuesday night, and in another not-so-stunner, the Giants came out on top in a contest between these two teams in San Francisco.

The 2-1 Giants win at AT&T Park was the fifth one-run game in nine meetings between these two teams in 2017, and two of the other four games went into extra innings.

Rich Hill gave the Dodgers some good news on Tuesday, looking sharp in his comeback from missing a month with blister problems. Hill hit leadoff man Denard Span in the helmet with a curveball to open the game, then balked him to second base, but after the inauspicious start Hill recovered.

Hill allowed six hits in five innings, with the only run a solo home run off the bat of Brandon Belt in the fourth. Hill struck out six and walked none, and had the curve working from all arm angles most of the night.

That Belt home run gave the Giants a lead rather than tying the game. In the top of the fourth inning, the Dodgers had runners on second and third base with one out. Austin Barnes hit a slow ground ball to second base, where Christian Arroyo was playing medium depth. The natural shortstop Arroyo unleashed a strong throw to the plate to stunningly nail Turner, the kind of ground ball that had it been hit by a Giant would have found a way to score two runs.

The Dodgers did tie the game eventually, thanks to Chris Taylor‘s home run to center field in the sixth.

That was all the Dodgers got against left-hander Ty Blach, who has 11 strikeouts and 10 walks in 34⅔ innings this season. He allowed one run in seven innings on Tuesday for the win.

Blach has allowed three runs in 23 innings against the Dodgers in his career, which began last September. Against everyone else, Blach has allowed 17 runs (15 earned) in 28⅔ innings for a 4.71 ERA.

Belt struck again in the sixth with a leadoff single, then advanced one base each on a wild pitch and a ground out, before coming home on a single by Brandon Crawford, who was 2-for-3 on the night.

Up next

These two teams will play a matinee on Wednesday, a 12:45 p.m. PT start, with Clayton Kershaw starting the finale for the Dodgers against Johnny Cueto for the Giants in an extraordinary pitching matchup.

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Chris Taylor (4); Brandon Belt (8)

WP - Ty Blach (1-2): 7 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts

LP - Luis Avilan (0-1): ⅓ IP, 2 hits, 1 run

Sv - Derek Law (4): 1 IP, 1 strikeout