Overpowered by Ohtani, Giants hampered by baserunning blunder in loss to Dodgers
LOS ANGELES - Any mistake can be fatal for a team facing Shohei Ohtani at his best, and the San Francisco Giants had a whopper of a misfire Wednesday night.
Finally, San Francisco had something going in the seventh inning, when, with one out, Willy Adames bolted off second on Drew Gilbert's fly ball to deep right center. Andy Pages made the catch on the track, Adames - already around third - was doubled off easily. The Giants never threatened again in a 4-0 loss at Dodger Stadium that ended their little three-game winning streak.
"I think I lost track of of the outs and made a mistake on the read, too," Adames said. "Obviously, it's a mistake that can't happen in the game, and that mistake is probably the most ashamed that I would feel playing the game. It was my fault. That's on me."
Adames, as he usually does, was chatting with Los Angeles shortstop Mookie Betts right before Gilbert's drive. Asked if that had distracted him somehow, Adames said, "I do that every time. If it was because of that, then I'd make mistakes every two days. … There's no excuse."
More For You
Brandon Crawford is a Bay Area icon. Now he's joining its greatest athletes in Hall of Fame
Brandon Crawford, the greatest shortstop in San Francisco Giants history, will go into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame, a perfect match of candidate and institution if ever there were one.
Ask the Giants: Which teammate would you ask to help you move and why?
The San Francisco Giants have been shuffling their roster, demoting some players and calling up others. With so many men in motion, this week's question seems especially on point.
Manager Tony Vitello hadn't had a chance to speak to Adames before his postgame media session, but he'd assumed Adames "misread the outs. With the inning over with, he goes back out there (to shortstop). At that point, we're trying to come back and there's no sense on dwelling on it."
Asked if Adames might not play Thursday - he's had only one day off this season and the Giants play a late game Thursday night and then fly to Sacramento for a game Friday night - Vitello said that had been discussed but he also pointed out that Adames has only just recently found his stroke at the plate again.
Dodgers 4, Giants 0
San Francisco
Los Angeles
ab
r
h
bi
ab
r
h
bi
Totals
32
0
6
0
Totals
31
4
9
4
Lee rf
4
0
0
0
Betts ss
4
1
1
1
Arraez 2b
3
0
2
0
Smith c
4
0
0
0
Ramos lf
3
0
0
0
Freeman 1b
3
0
1
0
Devers 1b
4
0
2
0
Pages cf
3
0
0
0
Eldridge dh
4
0
0
0
Tucker rf
4
1
2
0
Adames ss
4
0
1
0
Hernández dh
4
1
2
1
Chapman 3b
4
0
1
0
Rojas 2b
4
0
2
0
Gilbert cf
3
0
0
0
Call lf
2
0
0
1
Rodriguez c
3
0
0
0
Espinal 3b
3
1
1
1
San Francisco
000
000
000
-
0
Los Angeles
002
200
00x
-
4
E: Call (1). DP: San Francisco 1, Los Angeles 1. LOB: San Francisco 7, Los Angeles 7. 2B: Devers (9), Tucker 2 (12). HR: Espinal (1), Betts (3). SB: Freeman (1). SF: Call (1).
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
San Francisco
Ray L,3-5
4
2-3
7
4
3
2
2
Peguero
1
1-3
0
0
0
1
0
Beck
2
2
0
0
0
0
Los Angeles
Ohtani W,3-2
7
4
0
0
2
8
Scott
1
1
0
0
0
0
Hurt
1
1
0
0
0
2
WP: Ray, Peguero.
ABS Challenge: Devers (Strike-Overturned to Ball).
Umpires: Home, James Jean; First, Marvin Hudson; Second, Ryan Blakney; Third, Brian Walsh.
T: 2:23. A: 48,043 (56,000).
"He kind of fought through a rough patch there, swinging the bat," Vitello said. "He worked really hard to get to the point where he is in a pretty good rhythm at the plate.
"The bottom line is we have a chance to win the series here, which is always a challenge and whatever we think the best foot forward tomorrow is we want to do it, and then we'll see. We'll get out of here at a late hour,no matter what. We'll see how we want to tackle the first game of the next series when it comes. But tomorrow's the most important day for us."
If he sits, Adames said, "That's not my decision. If he does it, then it's OK. He's the boss. … Besides Buster (Posey)."
Vitello emphasized that one mistake didn't lose the Giants the game, though he did daydream for a minute how the tide might have turned had Gilbert's ball actually fallen in. Ohtani ruled the day, as he always does against San Francisco. The Dodgers ace allowed just four Giants singles and two walks in lowering his ERA to 0.82. In five starts against the Giants in his career, Ohtani has allowed one run and struck out 33 in 28 innings.
"I think everybody's been watching how he's been pitching this this year and executing pitches, attacking in different ways," Adames said. "And obviously that inning was the most pressure we put him in. And then I messed up."
Giants starter Robbie Ray gave up back-to-back homers by Santiago Espinal and Mookie Betts in the third, which isn't unusual - Ray is prone to the home-run ball, but he limits the damage: eight of the team-high 10 homers he's allowed have been solo shots, and the other two came with one man on. Ray went 4 ⅔ innings and allowed four runs in all; his ERA against the Dodgers his past three times out against them dating back to the start of 2025 is 7.45.
"My fastball was just leaking out over the plate and they made me pay for it." Ray said. "Really the only thing that kept me in the game was my changeup. Other than that, it was just bad. … I always pitch off my fastball and tonight I just didn't have it."
Catching conundrum: Rookie utility player/catcher Jesus Rodriguez had a bump or two behind the plate Wednesday while working with Ray, with a passed ball and a stolen base allowed. He's made two errors in his six starts at catcher and he's 0-for-7 throwing against opponents' stolen-base attempts. He's also 0-for-7 at the plate in this series.
"He's been good," Vitello said. "I mean, there have been a couple pitches where you wish he got the glove on the ball better, just to be frank, but I think he's getting used to our pitchers, so you got to cut him a little bit of slack. The opportunities to throw haven't really been there - there hasn't been a real clean pitch."
The team's other rookie catcher, Daniel Susac, is expected to come off the IL on Friday in his hometown of Sacramento. He's batting .529 with a 1.501 OPS in his rehab assignment with Triple-A Sacramento.
The Giants could elect to go with three catchers, retaining Susac, Rodriguez and Eric Haase, who homered twice in Tuesday's win over the Dodgers. But they could also designate Haase for assignment - which seems increasingly unlikely - or option Rodriguez back to Sacramento to get more catching experience.
If the Giants go with three catchers, it's unclear where the team would make a move to get the roster spot for Susac. Outfielder Gilbert is batting .229 but brings a lot of life to the team; the only other potential extra outfielders on the roster would be Rodriguez and Haase.
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 2:13 AM.