LOS ANGELES — As Blake Snell’s market continued to drag this spring, the Los Angeles Dodgers quietly dipped their toes in the water. They had watched Snell dominate them so many times that it only made sense that they would try to sign him, but the Dodgers wanted more of a commitment than the Giants ultimately got from Snell, who can opt out after this season.
On Monday, Snell looked every bit like the pitcher the Dodgers tried to add to their billion-dollar offseason. And the Giants continued to look every bit like the team that needed that jolt last offseason.
A 3-2 loss at Dodger Stadium was the third in four games on this road trip, which has included just 11 total runs despite the lineup playing three games at Coors Field and then facing a pitcher making his MLB debut. Snell did his part, allowing two runs over six innings, but there were too many mistakes elsewhere.
It started in the first inning, when Jorge Soler drew a leadoff walk and then was thrown out at third while trying to take advantage of a bobble on LaMonte Wade Jr.’s single to left. The Giants would not score, and the decision allowed River Ryan to settle in.
Seven innings later, Luis Matos and Heliot Ramos nearly collided while chasing down a fly ball to deep left. It landed between them for a leadoff double, and when Teoscar Hernandez drove a single up the middle a few minutes later, the Dodgers had the lead for good.
“Heliot called it,” manager Bob Melvin said in a quiet clubhouse. “When it got close and it felt like they were going to run into each other, he backed off.”
Young players are going to make mistakes, but right now the older Giants are doing the same, and this is a lineup that at the moment looks incapable of hitting itself out of trouble. The lone exception on this trip has been Tyler Fitzgerald, who homered for a fourth straight game. Melvin said Fitzgerald looks more confident and calm now that he has an everyday role, and perhaps in an odd way, he is sending a message to the front office.
