SAN FRANCISCO -- While the calendar has finally flipped past a rough July -- the Giants’ first losing month of the season -- the club did not ring in August on a much better note.

Oracle Park was rocking Monday night as the Giants hosted the Dodgers to open this season's fourth edition of the historic rivalry, but San Francisco fell behind early and could not recover, losing 8-2. It was the first time in the season series that the visiting team emerged victorious; the Dodgers have gone 6-0 vs. the Giants at Dodger Stadium, while the Giants swept their first series against the Dodgers in the Bay.

Aside from the temporary reprieve of a series win over the visiting Cubs, the Giants have slogged through the start of the second half. San Francisco's nine losses coming out of the All-Star break lead the Majors.

"I think we're better than that, better than we've been showing against the Dodgers," said Wilmer Flores, who hit his 16th home run of the season. "We've just got to show up tomorrow and keep playing."

Added manager Gabe Kapler: "We didn't make enough pitches, and they swung the bats better than we did."

San Francisco took the field behind emerging ace Logan Webb on Monday, which has generally been a recipe for success thus far in 2022. But it quickly became clear that Webb did not have his best stuff, as he posted back-to-back outings in which he allowed at least four runs for the first time this season.

"I just don't think he had his best command," Kapler said. "When he's commanding all three of his pitches, he's really tough. But today, I think he caught some plate [against] some pretty good hitters."

Webb, who is in his fourth season in the Majors, has now faced the Dodgers eight times. He was especially strong against them in 2021, holding them to six runs (five earned) over 30 2/3 innings in five starts, including two in the postseason.

Webb's dominance against the Dodgers continued in his first appearance against them this season, as the righty tossed six innings of one-run ball in San Francisco's 5-1 loss on July 22.

But that stretch of sustained excellence came to a close as Webb allowed six runs in five innings in Monday's series opener. That's the most earned runs Webb has allowed in a single game all season -- and the most he's allowed in the friendly confines of Oracle Park in his career.

The Dodgers' lineup feasted on Webb's offspeed pitches, which have generated the bulk of his opponents' swings-and-misses this season. Fourteen of the 20 balls put in play vs. Webb came off of his slider and changeup, and though he got a combined eight whiffs on the two pitches, he struggled to miss the Dodgers' bats overall.

"They were just middle of the plate," Webb said. "When you do that to Major League hitters, they'll probably hit it pretty far, or hard, or somewhere those guys aren't."

The Giants' series-opening loss not only continued the second-half swoon, but it may also be a sign that San Francisco will ultimately walk away from Tuesday’s 3 p.m. PT Trade Deadline as a seller. The club has traded for two Minor Leaguers so far but otherwise remained dormant despite rumors that it may deal some of its veterans with expiring contracts -- namely, Flores, Joc Pederson and Carlos Rodón.

Flores, for his part, said he's learned how to block out that noise over his 10 seasons in the Majors.

"I'm just going out there and trying to do my job, not think about anything else," he said. "I don't know what's going on outside, honestly."

For Webb and many of his teammates, though, this is their first Trade Deadline in which the Giants may choose to sell. And though they’ve tried their best to focus all their energy on the games leading up to the Deadline, it would be understandable if the team's uncertain future has lingered in the back of their minds.

"I separate them -- at least, you try to," Webb said. "I don't know if today was like, if you win, we get somebody; if we lose, then you trade somebody. I think the goal is every time we try and win, and unfortunately, I was pretty [bad] today, so I didn't get my team a chance to do that."