Game Wrap 4/12/2023: Dodgers 10 Giants 5

This game started out promising enough but then Giants fans watched in horror as the wheels fell off the game and possibly the entire season.  Key Lines:

Thairo Estrada SS- 2 for 4, HR(2), BB.  BA= .341.  Estrada continues to look like this could be his breakout season. Unfortunately the HR came in the 9'th inning after the game was long over for all practical purposes.  

Wilmer Flores 1B- 3 for 5.  BA= .346.  Wilmer was a bright spot at the plate and making some nice plays at 1B.  He seems to be playing more within himself so far this season.

Michael Conforto RF- 0 for 2.  BA= .225.  Here's where it gets ugly.  Conforto left the game early with calf tightness and DTD.  Injury notes on the Giants website say they are hopeful he will be able to play Friday after an off-day today.  Hmmm.... Seems like I remember posting that the #1 key to the season is for the Giants two main offseason acquisitions to stay healthy.  With no current timetable for Mitch Haniger OF's return and now this turn of events for Conforto, that's not looking so good.

 Bryce Johnson CF- 0 for 0.  BA= .150.  Johnson replaced Conforto and promptly saved 2 runs with a spectacular catch up against the CF wall, appeared to hit his head hard and crumpled to the ground while hanging onto the ball with his glove.  He had to be helped off the field with a concussion and is expected to hit the concussion IL.  That would seem to leave YtY, Heliot Ramos, LMWJ, Thairo Estrada, Darin Ruf and maybe J. D. Davis as players with OF experience left on the 40-man roster.  Oh!  I guess there is Joc Pederson and Matt Beaty too.  Oh my!

Darin Ruf DH- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .500.  It was great to see Ruf make what looked like a triumphant return to the Giants lineup with a booming double in the first inning off Clayton Kershaw LHP to drive in 2 runs.  He was somewhat surprisingly activated before the game with Sean Hjelle RHP being optioned to AAA Sacramento.  By the end of the game it felt more like another short term move in a Churn that looks increasingly desperate and chaotic.  With Haniger and Conforto both injured, we're essentially back to last year's team.

Joey Bart C- 2 for 4.  BA= .375.  It as a bunt and a bloop but hey!  At least he was putting the ball in play and sometimes good things happen.  Here's hoping the Giants just make him the #1 catcher and give him at least half the season to prove he can't handle it.

Alex Cobb RHP- 3.2 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 6/1.  ERA= 3.14.  Much like Alex Wood LHP on Tuesday, Cobb looked pretty sharp through 3 innings then seemed to hit a wall.  One of the concerns with the faster paced games was that pitchers would get fatigued faster with less time to rest between pitches. We may be seeing that effect in action.

Taylor Rogers LHP- 0.0 IP, 0 H, 4 R, 4 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 18.90.  The Giants apparently dismissed Rogers post-trade struggles with the Brewers last year as a sample size blip.  That's not looking so good right now either as Rogers could not hit the broad side of a barn.  The game was tied 3-3 when he entered in the 6'th inning.  After John Brebbia RHP gave up a SF and 3-run bomb to Max Muncy, the score was 8-3 and it was all over but the shouting.  You have to think something is very wrong with Taylor Rogers.  He's just not the same guy who shut down the Giants when he was with the Padres early last season and maybe the Padres knew something when they traded him to the Brewers for Josh Hader?

Ross Stripling RHP- 3.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's.  ERA= 9.00.  Another possible silver lining here is Stripling seemed to figure things out over his last two innings of work in mop up time after a shaky start striking out the side twice in two scoreless frames. 

The Giants get a travel day to regroup before taking on a road schedule that on paper should be an easier stretch, but so was the Royals series.