SF Giants fall back into tie for first, now even with Dodgers after 18 head-to-head matchups

SAN FRANCISCO — When players stood along the line for introductions on Opening Day in April, most of the baseball world thought it could be the last time the Giants and Dodgers were even in the National League West standings.

The Dodgers were the reigning World Series champions who expected the Padres to provide their fiercest competition in the division. The Giants were coming off four losing seasons and preparing for what could have easily been the swan song for the homegrown trio of Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey.

Yet with more than 80% of the season in the rearview mirror and 18 matchups between the rivals complete, the Giants and Dodgers find themselves tied for the NL West lead. And after Los Angeles defeated San Francisco 6-1 at Oracle Park on Saturday night, the Giants have every reason to be frustrated they aren’t in sole possession of first-place.

It’s a testament to how quickly expectations have shifted along the shores of McCovey Cove that there’s an overwhelming sense of disappointment around the ballpark when the Giants drop a game, but there’s no turning back now.

The Giants are down two starting pitchers, Alex Wood and Johnny Cueto, and missing three regular position players, Donovan Solano, Wilmer Flores and Alex Dickerson, but manager Gabe Kapler knows there are no excuses for an underwhelming performance like the one the club gave a sold out crowd at Oracle Park on Saturday.

A Giants offense that’s been miserable with runners in scoring position for the better part of two weeks went 1-for-7 in those spots Saturday against a Dodgers pitching staff led by left-hander Julio Urías. Catcher Buster Posey went 3-for-4 and drove in a first-inning run with a two-out double, but that was the only damage the Giants offense did against Los Angeles.

“To win major league baseball games, you’ve got to drive in runs and you’ve got to have big innings and we’re not doing that right now,” Kapler said.

Right-hander Jay Jackson was the “opener” for the Giants Saturday as Kapler wanted to use a righty against a lineup that stacked Trea Turner, Max Muncy and Mookie Betts atop the order, but the plan backfired when Turner launched a two-strike slider over the center field wall.

Jackson struck out Muncy, but after walking Betts and Justin Turner, he was removed in favor the winning pitcher from Friday’s game, Jarlín García. The lefty logged 2 2/3 quality innings for the Giants, but he was unable to strand Betts and Turner as García allowed a sacrifice fly before A.J. Pollock drilled a double into the left center field gap to push Los Angeles ahead 3-0.

“You can’t walk Dodgers hitters,” Kapler said. “It’s always going to come back to bite you and we’ve just got to be better about getting and staying in the zone.”

A Giants team that’s seen an uptick in defensive miscues over the last few weeks made another costly one in the sixth that allowed the Dodgers to add to their lead. Shortstop Mauricio Dubón had a strong chance to retire Turner on a groundball hit to the left side of the infield, but Dubón airmailed his throw to Brandon Belt which allowed Turner to reach second base.

After José Quintana crossed up Posey with a wild pitch that allowed Turner to take third base, third base umpire Adam Hamari called the Giants reliever for a balk because Quintana did not declare that he was going to pitch out of the windup instead of the stretch.

“We’ve got to know the rule there,” Posey said. “It’s on all of us for not reminding him and Quintana, I’m sure he knew that rule as well.”

With 18 head-to-head matchups in the books, the Giants and Dodgers are now 9-9 against each other. Sunday’s series finale marks the last time the clubs will meet in the regular season, but given their current pace, it’s possible the rivals could meet for the first time ever in the postseason.