Spring Training Recap: Pitchers Struggle As Dodgers Fall To Giants
The Los Angeles Dodgers were facing the rival San Francisco Giants for the second time in three days. Young pitcher Carlos Frias got the starting nod, and he would be going against Matt Cain. This game was one of the two split-squad matches Sunday afternoon.
Joc Pederson got things going with a hard-hit grounder that Brandon Belt couldn’t come up with. Pederson tried to steal second but was thrown out. Justin Turner hit a double to right field, and Yasiel Puig followed suit with a ground-rule double to right, scoring Turner. A 1-0 lead had been quickly established. Yasmani Grandal flied out, and Andre Ethier went down swinging for the third out.
Puig flashed his defensive skill with a diving catch, robbing Nori Aoki of a hit. Frias then gave a up a double to Joe Panik, and a single to Angel Pagan. Buster Posey hit a bloop single to right, scoring Panik and tying the game at one. Despite a mound visit, Frias gave up another hit, this time to Brandon Belt, and Pagan scored as the Giants took a the lead. Frias finally got out of the inning by striking out Travis Ishikawa and getting Brandon Crawford to ground out. After one, the Giants were up 2-1.
The Dodgers went down quickly in the second. A short fly out, and two ground outs retired the side in order. In the bottom of the frame, Frias continued to struggle. He issued a walk to the lead off batter. He struck out opposing pitcher Matt Cain, but gave up a base hit to Aoki. He issued another walk to Joe Panik and loaded the bases. Pagan hit a grounder but the double play could not be turned and another run scored. The inning was over when Grandal threw out Pagan on an attempted steal. After two, the Giants were leading 3-1.
In the third, after Frias struck out, Pederson cut the lead down to one with a line drive solo shot to right field. Turner lined out, but Puig got his second hit of the night to extend the inning. Grandal smoked a double to right, and Puig scored to tie the game. The rally continued as Ethier was walked, but Guerrero hit a nubber back to Cain and the inning was over with the game tied 3-3. The bottom of the inning was much better for Frias. A ground out, was followed by a hit from Belt. But Ishikawa struck out and Grandal nailed Belt at second on another attempted steal.
The offense didn’t produce in the fourth, as the Dodgers went down 1-2-3. The Giants continued to give Frias a hard time as he gave up two straight singles to start the bottom of the fourth. An out came via pop out, but Frias’ day was done. He was replaced by Juan Nicasio. A line out and a tag at first made for a confusing double play, but the inning was over nonetheless.
CONTINUE READING: See if the Dodgers were able to defeat their rivals.
