SAN FRANCISCO — Willy Adames started this Dodgers series in the same fashion as their last meeting in Los Angeles, Shohei Ohtani responded with the first splash hit of his career, and things were only getting started Friday night at Oracle Park.
Adames homered, tripled and drove in three runs, Dominic Smith added a solo shot, and Jung Hoo Lee also tripled and drove home three while reaching base three times. The Giants needed each and every one to secure an action-packed 8-7 win to open their first home series of the season against their archrivals.
Camilo Doval allowed the tying run to reach scoring position but got Will Smith to ground into a game-ending double play to earn his 15th save and send the Dodgers (56-39) to their seventh straight loss. The Giants (52-43), meanwhile, improved to 7-2 in their past nine games, cutting the gap in the National League West standings to four games with two to play until the All-Star break.
Logan Webb turned in his shortest outing since Memorial Day and allowed his most runs of the season as the Dodgers jumped on him for six runs in 5 1/3 innings. They scored four in the sixth before manager Bob Melvin came to get him with one down, only the fourth time in 20 starts he has failed to complete six frames.
Making his final start before heading to Atlanta for his second All-Star appearance, Webb looked to be in command besides Ohtani’s third-inning home run but began the sixth by running a fastball too far inside on Mookie Betts. He proceeded to surrender back-to-back doubles to Will Smith and Teoscar Hernandez before Michael Conforto put an end to his night with a two-run blast that cut the Giants’ lead to 8-6.
Playing his first game at Oracle Park since departing as a free agent in the offseason, Conforto created a pair of Dodgers runs with the homer to straightaway center and helped prevent one for his former club with a perfect throw from left field to nab Lee attempting to tag from third in the fourth.
Lee had already driven in a pair of leadoff walks with a triple just out of the reach of right fielder Teoscar Hernandez that put the Giants back in front, 3-2.
Adames followed suit with a two-run triple the following inning, and Lee beat out an infield single when Anthony Banda stumbled covering first base to tack on another in a five-run fifth that widened the Giants lead to 8-2. The big inning got started with a solo home run from Dominic Smith, his second of the year.
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Adames opened the scoring against Dodgers starter Dustin May in the second inning with a 416-foot solo shot into visitors’ bullpen, reminiscent of the first-inning blast that began things in the Giants’ Game 1 win in Los Angeles last month. Dating back to the Giants’ series at Coors Field that led into the rivals’ first meeting last month, Adames has homered seven times in 29 games with a batting average better than .300 and an OPS above .900.
The initial lead wouldn’t hold for long, as Ohtani unloaded on the first pitch he saw from Webb in the third inning and sent it 410 feet into the water beyond right field. The first splash hit of Ohtani’s career put the Dodgers up 2-1 — and sent a souvenir-seeking kayaker diving into McCovey Cove — but was made inconsequential by the time the ball had dried off.
Up next
RHP Landen Roupp (6-5, 3.39) faces off against RHP Shohei Ohtani (0-0, 1.50) in the middle game of the series. Pitching against the Giants for the first time with the Dodgers, Ohtani isn’t expected to go more than three innings while he continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery. The first 20,000 fans will receive a Barry Bonds bobblehead, and Bonds will throw out the ceremonial first pitch in addition to other pregame festivities honoring the all-time home run king.