Dodgers' Kazmir roughed up again by Giants
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Scott Kazmir and Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal don't think there's anything to worry about even though the left-hander has given up six runs in back-to-back four-inning starts against the San Francisco Giants.
"I don't want to say he struggled," Grandal said Saturday night after the Dodgers' 4-3 loss to Johnny Cueto and the Giants. "I mean, Kaz did throw a lot of pitches in the first inning, but a lot of their guys battled. We got ahead of the hitters, but we just couldn't put them away."
Kazmir (1-1) was charged with four runs, seven hits and four walks over four-plus innings. The left-hander, matching up against Cueto for the second time in seven days, failed to retire any of the four batters he faced in the fifth as the Giants scored their final two runs.
"We know what he's got, so we went in there and competed and battled and let the game dictate," San Francisco's Hunter Pence said. "Seeing him last week gives you an idea of what he's got, but in this game, every day is different, and he had some pretty good stuff tonight."
One night after Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw threw two wild pitches that allowed runs to score, Kazmir uncorked two more in the Giants' first. Denard Span opened the game with a single, advanced on the first wild pitch and scored on Joe Panik's single.
The second wild pitch put Panik in scoring position, but Kazmir retired Buster Posey on a fly ball before striking out Pence and Brandon Belt.
Crawford hit a run-scoring ground-rule double in the fourth, and Belt chased Kazmir in the fifth with a bases-loaded RBI single on his 93rd pitch. Posey scored the Giants' third run moments later on a double-play grounder by Matt Duffy.
"The fifth inning, that's something that's just really frustrating," Kazmir said. "I was just not attacking hitters and was getting out of my game."
Cueto (3-0) helped manager Bruce Bochy celebrate his 61st birthday, allowing a run and three hits in 7 1/3 innings and striking out seven.
The right-hander, who signed a six-year, $130 million contract in December after leaving the World Series champion Kansas City Royals, retired his first 13 batters before Grandal doubled to the wall in right-center on a full count.
"We've got a lot of guys who have leg kicks when they're batting. So he was just trying to quick-pitch and mix in his velocity through there," Grandal said. "I don't have a leg kick, so I can time him a little better. But it's really tough to hit against that because he's a strike machine."
Javier Lopez gave up Corey Seager's two-run homer in the eighth on a full count, but Santiago Casilla got the last three outs for his third save in four chances after giving up a leadoff double by Grandal.
Cueto also received some defensive help. Shortstop Crawford made a running over-the-shoulder catch of Trayce Thompson's popup in short left-center field in the third, and center fielder Span robbed Justin Turner of a bloop single with a sliding grab to end the fourth.
Turner led off the seventh with a double and scored on a two-out, opposite-field single by Kike Hernandez.
SPIKE MARKS
Giants: Lopez allowed only one home run in 39 1/3 innings last season. Seager's homer to center field was the first the left-hander has given up in 35 1/3 career innings against the Dodgers. ... The Giants haven't hit a home run in their last 11 games at Dodger Stadium since Sept. 23, 2014, when Bumgarner victimized mound opponent Zack Greinke with a two-run shot.
Dodgers: Kazmir's only other career start at Dodger Stadium was June 12, 2010, when he allowed two runs over five innings for the Angels in a 4-2 victory. He signed a three-year, $48 million contract on Dec. 30, after splitting last season with Oakland and Houston and finishing with a career-best 3.10 ERA despite a 7-11 record in 31 starts.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Dodgers: LF Carl Crawford, out with lower back tightness, is progressing well and will travel with the team to Atlanta on Monday, when he'll meet up with the Triple-A Oklahoma City club in Nashville to begin a rehab assignment. ... LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu, rehabbing from shoulder surgery, had Saturday's scheduled bullpen session postponed because of a groin strain.
UP NEXT
Giants: RHP Jeff Samardzija (1-0) starts the series finale, his first start at Dodger Stadium since Aug. 3, 2013, when he lost a 3-0 decision to Chris Capuano.
Dodgers: RHP Kenta Maeda (1-0) pitched six scoreless innings in each of his first two starts. His scoreless streak is 6 1/3 innings shy of Dave Stewart's for the longest by a Dodger to start a career since the franchise relocated from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Stewart did it as a reliever, over a span of 11 appearances.