Giants sent to 3rd straight loss by Dodgers

LOS ANGELES -- The Giants have been swept only twice this season, but both of those skids carried extra sting because they came at the hands of the rival Dodgers.

The Giants matched their longest losing streak of the season after dropping their third consecutive game, 3-1, in Tuesday night’s series finale at Dodger Stadium, which sealed a sweep in this two-game mini series between the two best clubs in the National League.

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The Dodgers, who also swept the Giants in a three-game series at Oracle Park from May 21-23, have now pulled within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Giants in the NL West, which is expected to be one of the most tightly contested division races this summer.

The Giants certainly aren’t panicking after coming up short against Trevor Bauer and Walker Buehler in a quick series in June, but the disappointing showing at Dodger Stadium served as a reminder of what they’re up against and the slim margin for error they’ll have against heavyweights like the defending World Series champions and the Padres, who are three games back in the standings.

“We’re going to have to do a better job against the best teams in baseball, including the Dodgers, in those big spots,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “You have to bring your A-game every time out when you play these good teams, and we didn’t do that on the offensive side. We’ve seen that in short stretches in the past, and we’ve been able to clean it up right away. We expect we’ll be able to do that going forward.”

The Giants produced only three hits against Buehler, who allowed one unearned run over 6 2/3 innings to improve to 6-0 with a 2.17 ERA in 10 career appearances against San Francisco. The Giants finished a combined 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position in both losses against the Dodgers, who have taken six of the first nine meetings between the two clubs.

“I don’t really want to say we’re pressing,” outfielder Alex Dickerson said. “They’ve got a really good pitching staff, and they kind of buckled down when they needed to. They got the right pitches and the right swings out of us. It’s just kind of the way it goes.”

To make matters worse, the Giants also lost their starting right fielder for the second consecutive day, as Mike Tauchman was forced to exit the game after making a twisting catch to rob Buehler of extra bases in the second inning. Tauchman, who earned a start on Tuesday after Mike Yastrzemski was held out of the lineup with a right leg contusion, was diagnosed with a right knee contusion and possibly a sprain.

San Francisco ace Kevin Gausman was charged with a rare loss after giving up three runs over five innings, though he still ranks second in the Majors with a 1.68 ERA over 16 starts this year. Gausman allowed only three hits, but he uncharacteristically issued a season-high five walks, creating high-stress innings for the 30-year-old right-hander.

“I feel like if I was able to pitch the way I have been, it probably would have been a different ballgame,” Gausman said.

The Dodgers tested Gausman from the outset, loading the bases on a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the first inning. Opposing batters entered Tuesday 2-for-49 against Gausman with runners in scoring position, but he couldn’t avoid damage after surrendering a two-out, two-run double to Chris Taylor.

Los Angeles extended its lead to 3-0 in the third, when Max Muncy delivered his seventh home run in nine games against the Giants this season.

Gausman struggled to get the Dodgers’ selectively aggressive lineup to chase his devastating splitter, which induced only five whiffs on Tuesday.

“It just wasn’t the same tonight, that being my split,” Gausman said. “A lot of uncompetitive pitches, a lot of uncompetitive splits out of my hand. I almost hit four or five righties trying to throw that pitch down and away to them, so it definitely wasn’t the same as it has been throughout starts this year. I made it pretty easy for them to lay off it. I felt like I would throw two bad ones in a row, and then throw a really good one. But I just wasn’t consistent enough with it for them to chase.”

Steven Duggar put the Giants on the board with an RBI double in the seventh, and the Giants threatened again in the ninth after Dickerson reached on a hit-by-pitch and Buster Posey walked to put runners on first and second with no outs against Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen. Still, Jansen struck out Brandon Crawford, retired Wilmer Flores on a popout and whiffed Duggar to end the game.

The Giants haven’t had too much experience snapping skids this season, but they’ll have a prime opportunity to reset when they travel to Arizona to kick off a four-game series against the last-place D-backs on Thursday.

“We’re playing all close games for the most part,” Dickerson said. “I think that’s where the confidence kind of lies. You’re going to have stretches where we don’t put runs on the board, but when you have pitching as good as ours and defense as good as ours, you’re always going to be there. It really just takes one or two big innings and you’re right back on the horse. We have all the confidence in the world that we’ll get right back on track.”