After a rough loss yesterday with some sloppy play and a Coors Field hangover, there wasn’t much the way of excuses today as Shohei Ohtani was on the bump. He was as advertised, but the rest of the team was dogshit. They were held scoreless for seven innings, and then Jack Dreyer set another dumpster fire immediately after Ohtani exited as a pitcher, giving up a three-run homer as the Dodgers fell to the Giants, 3-0.
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The trouble Shohei Ohtani faced was in his bookend innings, as a one-out single and a two-out single put a pair on in the 1st, but he ended up striking out the side to avoid damage.
100 mph with movement from Shohei. ? pic.twitter.com/IhbYyKa64M
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 23, 2026
That ended up being a part of 11 in a row retired before he gave up a one-out single in the 5th, which led to nothing for the Giants. However, with two down in the 6th, an infield single extended the inning and a double followed that to put a pair in scoring position. It was a pivotal moment in the game, and Ohtani responded with a 100 MPH fastball and three nasty sweepers for the strikeout.
Fire us up, Shohei! pic.twitter.com/3KUxu89URK
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 23, 2026
That was it, and that was the game: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, 91 Pitches.
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Too bad Cy Young was on the mound for the Giants in the form of Tyler Mahle.
They did have a chance in the 1st when they stranded a two-out walk and single, but they got just a one-out walk in the 2nd, and had a quiet 3rd.
The Dodgers missed a huge opportunity in the 4th after Freddie Freeman started with a single, and with one down Max Muncy snuck a ball off the glove of a diving Luis Arraez for a single that ended up advancing Freddie to third while Muncy took second on the throw. Unfortunately, an Andy Pages grounder was snagged and Freddie was out after a rundown going for home, and Hyeseong Kim‘s hard grounder was speared to get Mahle out of the jam.
Easy work for Arraez pic.twitter.com/qq5aiqWkIc
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 23, 2026
The bats didn’t use that to build momentum, quite the opposite, as Mahle retired the side in order in the 5th, 6th, and 7th.
Brutal.
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That got even worse when Ohtani was removed in the 7th, as Jack Dreyer took over for the pen and promptly gave up back-to-back singles. He then got an out on a sacrifice bunt, then got to face one of the worst hitters in the league in Patrick Bailey. Dreyer got him down 1-2, then threw his fifth straight slider and hung it, leading to Bailey pummeling a no-doubter for a 3-0 Giants lead.
“HIGH DRIVE TO LEFT…” pic.twitter.com/8OqfyMQ25c
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 23, 2026
A choice.
Kyle Hurt finished off the Giants with a clean 8th, but really it was whatever after that.
After all, one run was enough, as the Dodgers got just a single in the 8th and a walk in the 9th.
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SNLA changed their scorebug, which should make people happier with it at least.
They changed the scorebug.
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— Chad Moriyama (@chadmoriyama.bsky.social) April 22, 2026 at 3:47 PM
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16-8, as they’ve now lost four of their last five.
The rivalry series finale will be early tomorrow on getaway day at 9:45 AM HT/12:45 PM PT/3:45 PM ET. Tyler Glasnow will take the mound looking to continue his dominant showing, and the bats will hope to deepen the struggles of Logan Webb.
