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James Paxton gives up 12 hits and nine runs in Dodgers' blowout loss to Giants

Mike DiGiovanna, Los Angeles Times on

Published in Baseball

SAN FRANCISCO — The “opener” in what was supposed to be a “bullpen game” for the San Francisco Giants outlasted the Los Angeles Dodgers’ starter, which should provide a hint at how things went for the visiting team on a sun-splashed Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park.

Dodgers left-hander James Paxton was pummeled for nine earned runs and 12 hits in four innings of an eventual 10-4 loss to the Giants, failing to give his team a chance to win or provide much-needed length after eight relievers combined to throw eight innings in Saturday’s 14-7, 11-inning victory.

Meanwhile, reliever Spencer Bivens, a 30-year-old rookie who was expected to go two, maybe two-plus innings for the Giants, threw five one-run, four-hit innings with three strikeouts, the right-hander punctuating his 60-pitch outing with a full windup and violent fist pump after he struck out Shohei Ohtani with an 82-mph sweeper to end the fifth.

Paxton, who gave up only two earned runs and seven hits in 18 innings of his previous three starts, was tagged for a run and two hits in the first inning, two runs and four hits in the second, a run and two hits in the third and five runs and four hits in the fourth.

But the Dodgers’ bullpen didn’t even begin to stir until Patrick Bailey lined a two-run double to left for a 7-0 lead in the fourth. Only when Matt Chapman followed with a two-run homer to left for a 9-0 lead did right-hander Michael Petersen begin to warm up.

Paxton struck out Luis Matos and got David Villar to ground out shortstop to end the fourth, pushing his pitch-count at 89, but manager Dave Roberts wouldn’t let the veteran go any longer.

 

Petersen replaced Paxton to start the fifth and threw two scoreless one-hit innings, right-hander Yohan Ramirez added a scoreless seventh, and Austin Barnes hit a two-run double in the top of the ninth.

About the only other bright spot for the Dodgers was Chris Taylor, who hit a solo homer to center field off Bivens in the fifth and an RBI double to right-center off Landen Roupp in the seventh.

Taylor started at third base, a position the veteran utility man will be playing more of in the coming days, Roberts said.

Third base has been a problem spot since Max Muncy suffered a rib-cage strain on May 15, the slugger’s replacements — mostly Cavan Biggio and Kiké Hernández — batting .156 (21 for 135) with 40 strikeouts in 39 games since Muncy went on the injured list.

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