Cody Bellinger, Dodgers Lose 5-4 to Giants After Alex Wood Struggles

The San Francisco Giants made it into the win column Saturday in their third attempt of the 2020 season.

After losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers by a combined 17-2 in the first two games of the year, San Francisco broke out for a 5-4 victory, scoring runs in each of the first four innings at Dodger Stadium.

Wilmer Flores hit his first home run as a member of the Giants, who got a strong showing from some of their up-and-comers with right fielder Jaylin Davis and reliever Caleb Baragar helping shut down one of the National League's best contenders.

Lefty Alex Wood was tagged with the loss.

Notable Performers

Cody Bellinger, CF, Los Angeles Dodgers: 5 AB, 2 R, 1 H

Corey Seager, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers: 4 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 2 RBI

Wilmer Flores, 2B, San Francisco Giants: 4 AB, 1 R, 1 H, 1 RBI, 1 HR

Logan Webb, RHP, San Francisco Giants: 4 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO

Dodgers' Comeback Falls Short

Giving up three runs and getting pulled after three innings wasn't the return to Los Angeles that Wood likely envisioned when he signed a one-year deal in January. His teammates nearly made up for it anyway.

Trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the eighth inning, a Corey Seager line drive with two outs pushed Cody Bellinger and Justin Turner across the plate following an error by Giants third baseman Donovan Solano. Had Solano fielded the play cleanly, the inning ends with no damage.

Instead, Chris Taylor kept the line moving with a single, Joc Pederson was hit by a pitch and Kike Hernandez stepped to up with the bases loaded.

Hernandez knocked a Tyler Rogers fastball straight to Flores at second, who nearly committed an error himself by overthrowing Darin Ruf at first base. Ruf was able to gather the ball and apply the tag with no harm, but the Dodgers were hardly done battling back.

Will Smith led off the bottom of the ninth with a pinch-hit home run off Trevor Gott to make it a one-run game and the top of the L.A. order due up.

For what seemed like the first time all series, the Giants were able to keep Max Muncy, Mookie Betts and Bellinger in check, getting three quick outs to end the game following Smith's home run.

Betts is now 3-for-16 to begin his Dodgers career.

Giants Youth Steps Up

San Francisco's rebuild showed some positive signs Saturday with four of the team's young players highlighting the victory.

The most notable was Baragar, who entered the game with one on and no outs in the fifth inning and proceeded to get Muncy to fly out to center before producing a double play off the bat of Betts. Against the heart of the Dodgers order in the sixth inning, Baragar retired Bellinger on six pitches, Turner on four and Seager on one.

The rookie left the mound without facing any trouble and picked up the win for the Giants in the process.

Elsewhere in the lineup, Mike Yastrzemski (2-for-4) and Davis (1-for-4) continued to pick up hits while fellow rookie Mauricio Dubon showed off his glove both at shortstop and centerfield.

The Giants may not pick up a lot of wins this season, but the continued development of their next wave of players should remain a fairly consistent bright spot.

What's Next?

The four-game series concludes at Dodger Stadium at 10:08 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN. Julio Urias makes his season debut for Los Angeles. The Giants have yet to name a starter.