LOS ANGELES -- For the third consecutive game, the Giants couldn't take down the National League All-Star team. Mookie Betts, Trea Turner and Freddie Freeman all homered and Julio Urias dazzled as the Dodgers beat the Giants 4-2 at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.
Former Giant Reyes Moronta walked a pair to kickstart a rally in the top of the ninth and Luis Gonzalez and Joey Bart drove in runs, but Austin Slater went down looking on a two-out, two-strike pitch that was inside. The loss was the third straight for the Giants (48-46), who had played some of their best baseball of the year heading into the All-Star break. They are now just two games above .500 and trail the Dodgers (63-30) by 15 1/2 games in the NL West.
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Alex Wood was cruising until Betts and Turner went back-to-back with two outs in the third. With the Dodgers now leading 3-0, Freeman took John Brebbia deep to right in the seventh. The homer was his 15th, tying him with Turner for second on the team. Betts is up to 22.
Weird One
Here is a seven-batter stretch Wood had in the second and third innings: Strikeout looking, strikeout looking, strikeout looking, strikeout swinging, strikeout looking, home run, home run.
Wood has pitched over 1,000 big league innings, but the second inning Saturday was just the second time he has struck out the side looking. The run of five straight strikeouts came to an end when Betts -- who nearly homered twice in his first at-bat -- smoked a fastball. Turner did the same.
San Francisco Giants
Those were the only two runs scored off Wood, but he didn't make it out of the fifth. The Dodgers fouled off 25 of his pitches and worked deep counts even as the strikeouts piled up, and Wood was pulled after issuing a leadoff walk in the fourth.
Julio Zero-ias
The Giants scored seven runs off Urias last May but have barely touched him since. This was his sixth regular season start against them since that rough one and he's allowed five total runs, along with two strong postseason appearances. On Saturday, Urias allowed just two hits and struck out five.
The best chance to do damage came in the sixth, when Austin Slater drew a walk and Darin Ruf did the same with two outs. That ordinarily would have brought up Evan Longoria, but he was removed in the fourth after suffering a hamstring strain while running out a grounder. David Villar replaced Longoria and Urias struck him out on three pitches to end the sixth.
Everyday Austin
The Giants are facing three left-handed starters this series, which means a lot of Slater. Right now, that's a huge positive.
Slater has been their best hitter in July, making the case to start in center field every day. He had the only two hits off Urias, doubling while leading off the game and then adding a single in the third.
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Slater is 22-for-51 in July with five doubles and 13 runs scored. He has raised his OPS for the season to .875, an increase of more than 100 points from last season.