LOS ANGELES — Wednesday night’s game between the Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants featured two pitchers trying to announce they were back and ready to contribute the rest of the season. One was making his first major league start since Tommy John surgery in May 2023. The other was returning from a modest 15-day absence.
Both overcame rough spots in their much-anticipated starts, but only one came away with a victory.
Left-hander Robbie Ray was electric after the first inning, allowing just one earned run on a bases-loaded walk in five no-hit innings. He struck out eight and threw 86 pitches as the Giants limited the Dodgers to five hits in an 8-3 victory at Dodger Stadium.
The victory ended the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak since the All-Star break.
Meanwhile, Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who had not thrown since July 9 because of back tightness, was attempting to recapture the command that had helped him deliver 12 quality starts this season. But Glasnow (8-6) pitched five innings, allowing two runs (both earned) on four hits, including a home run in the fourth. He walked four and struck out four.
“I didn’t really feel in a good rhythm,” Glasnow said. “It was a struggle the whole night. I wasn’t really commanding my pitches. … Every pitch felt different. I didn’t get into a good rhythm.”
Manager Dave Roberts said he thought Glasnow was rusty from the layoff.
“Certainly, his command wasn’t there,” Roberts said. “We’ve talked about it off and on this year, (that) he’s a big body guy and to sync up all those limbs and moving parts, it gets hard at times.
“Tonight, it seemed he couldn’t find any type of rhythm. There were a lot of misfires – working behind in the count and he found a way to give up just two runs in five innings. But he threw a lot of pitches tonight.”
After Ray (1-0) departed, the Giants continued to shut down the Dodgers over the next 1⅔ innings. Dodgers second baseman Chris Taylor broke up the no-hitter with an RBI double to center field with two outs in the seventh, but he had to exit the game after suffering an apparent injury while trying to beat the throw to second base.
Taylor said he felt pain after rounding first base. He is scheduled to undergo tests Thursday and Roberts said the injury will likely land him on the IL. If that happens, the Dodgers are prepared to bring back outfielder James Outman from Triple-A.
“I don’t want to guess or speculate,” Taylor said. “I’m hoping its very minor.”
The Dodgers got on the scoreboard in the first inning without a hit.
Shohei Otani took Ray’s first pitch deep to the left field corner before it was caught. Ray followed that by hitting Will Smith, walking Freddie Freeman, hitting Teoscar Hernandez and walking Andy Pages, which scored Smith for a 1-0 lead.
“I was a little amped up in the first to get out there,” Ray said. “Really excited. Everything felt good. Just kind of getting a little quick with my front side. I knew my stuff was going to play regardless. I knew if I got through that first inning I could settle down.”
Ray got out of the inning by striking out Miguel Vargas and getting Taylor on a fly out, then he settled down and retired the next 12 batters to notch his first victory in a Giants uniform.
“I thought the first inning, obviously it was Robbie’s first start back; it was his first big league game in a while, so he wasn’t sharp obviously,” Roberts said. “A couple of walks to start – our approach was really good – but once he got through that first inning (it was tough). We were one hit or two from getting him out of the game and it would have been a different ball game.”
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Glasnow was activated shortly before the game. The 30-year-old right-hander reached 58 pitches while throwing three simulated innings Friday, but he wasn’t sharp Wednesday (52 strikes among his 91 pitches).
The Giants tied the score in the fourth on Matt Chapman’s 14th homer of the season and went ahead, 2-1, on Mike Yastrzemski’s RBI single to center.
In the eighth inning, the Giants got to the Dodgers’ fatigued bullpen. They scored six runs on five hits, with five earned runs charged to reliever Yohan Ramirez, extending the lead to 8-1.
The Dodgers got one run back in the eighth and another in the ninth.
Freddie Freeman got things moving in the eighth when his hard-hit ball to center dropped between Giants outfielders, allowing newcomer Nick Ahmed to score from first. Ahmed joined the Dodgers on Wednesday after being released by the Giants two weeks ago.
Ohtani went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.
