Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES – In an ear-splitting Dodger Stadium, everything could be heard except Giants bats.
The Giants offense went quietly and the Dodgers turned a humdrum win into an LA party by pouring it on late, as the Giants fell 9-0 at Dodger Stadium in front of 48,219 on Tuesday.
The Giants couldn’t escape an early hole dug by Shaun Anderson and were further buried by a six-run seventh-inning onslaught, Kike Hernandez’s grand slam the final indignity.
Anderson was not sharp but not crushed, inducing just three swings-and-misses all night. But after a dismal first inning, he stiffened, finishing with 5 2/3 innings in which he allowed three runs on seven hits and three walks.
He kept the Giants within striking distance, but no strike was launched. Clayton Kershaw dazzled, holding the Giants scoreless and clueless through seven strong innings. Kershaw’s lifetime ERA against the Giants improved to 1.68.
The Giants (31-40), a game closer to selling at the trade deadline, managed just four hits off Dodgers pitchers a night after recording three.
Still, San Francisco was a few feet from somehow clawing into another game against the NL’s best. Down 2-0 in the sixth inning and with a runner on, Tyler Austin hammered a shot to right, but Cody Bellinger was ready. The star tracked it and hit the wall, the Giants’ best chance falling just short in his glove.
Anderson’s downfall was a familiar one. After the Dodgers’ two-run first inning, he’s now allowed seven runs in seven first innings this season.
These were not dinks and dunks, either. Joc Pederson led off with a 391-foot homer. Alex Verdugo and Justin Turner followed with a hard-hit single and double, respectively. Even the next batter, Bellinger, rocketed a shot with a 102.8-mph exit velocity that wound up in Kevin Pillar’s glove in right.
Anderson, coming off his best start of his career in a win over the Padres and trying to follow up Tyler Beede’s impressive outing, settled down, skillfully navigating a lineup whose bats he couldn’t miss. The rookie 24-year-old struck out just two.
Anderson brought a respectable loss with him when he exited. Derek Holland, after escaping a sixth-inning jam, put runners on first and third before Trevor Gott entered. Gott had nothing, and recorded half as many outs (two) as runs allowed (four). Hernandez’s 416-foot shot accounted for the final score.