 deep to right in the fourth. He paused between first and second base as the ball ricocheted back onto the field, unsure of the call until first base umpire Tim Timmons signaled home run.Television replays showed it just hit above the brick facade in right. Freese entered the series with the Giants in a 0-for-18 funk. He singled as a pinch hitter on Monday and added two more hits and a walk on Tuesday.Chris Taylor and Austin Barnes added consecutive two-run doubles off Ty Blach in the sixth. Hernandez capped the inning with his sixth home run, a two-run drive to left.Turner homered leading off the seventh.It was more than enough for Buehler (3-0), who allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings.TRAINERS ROOMDodgers: CF A. J. Pollock was placed on the injured list. He might need surgery because of an infection in his surgically repaired right elbow. The 31-year-old Pollock signed a $55 million, four-year contract with the Dodgers in the offseason but has struggled at the plate.Giants: Johnny Cueto threw 25 pitches off a mound in his first bullpen session since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year.UP NEXTGiants ace Madison Bumgarner (1-4, 4.30 ERA) squares off against the Dodgers' Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-1, 2.96 ERA) in a matchup of left-handers in the series finale Wednesday. Coming off a season-high 10 strikeouts against Pittsburgh in his most recent outing, Ryu beat San Francisco earlier this year when he allowed two runs over seven innings. The Giants have lost five of the six games that Bumgarner has started.--More MLB:?https://apnews.com/tag/MLB?and?https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Giants' Bochy emphasizes importance of Dodgers series San Francisco Giants left-hander Drew Pomeranz will try to follow in the footsteps of teammate Jeff Samardzija when he faces the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night in the continuation of what his manager labeled a critical series.In the wake of San Francisco getting swept in three games by the visiting New York Yankees last weekend, Giants manager Bruce Bochy put some pressure on his players before Monday's series opener against the Dodgers, insisting his club already had dug itself a hole just a month into the season.Asked if his players felt a sense of urgency, Bochy, who has announced he will retire at season's end, told the assembled media, "When you're where we're at, hopefully we all feel that. We better feel like that. As they say, you don't win it here (in April), but you certainly can bury yourself where you've got too many games to make up." The Giants (12-17) made up one of those games on the Dodgers (19-12) with a come-from-behind, 3-2 win over their California rivals in the series opener.Samardzija got the Giants headed in the right direction, shutting out the visitors on two hits over five innings before handing the ball off to the San Francisco bullpen.Evan Longoria stroked the game's biggest hit, a three-run double in the seventh that erased a 2-0 deficit and gave the Giants the lead for good.Pomeranz (1-2, 3.65 ERA) is coming off his best outing of the season, a 4-0 win at Toronto on Wednesday. He pitched six innings of the shutout, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five.He has faced the Dodgers nine times in his career, seven times as a starter, going 1-4 with a 3.49 ERA.The 30-year-old didn't get a decision in a 4-2 win at Dodger Stadium on April 1, leaving after five effective innings with the Giants trailing 2-0.Pomeranz served up home runs to Chris Taylor and Alex Verdugo in the game, the latter in a pinch-hitting role.Verdugo got the start in center field Monday, with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts insisting it was nothing more than struggling A. J. Pollock getting a night off against a tough right-hander.Roberts indicated Pollock would be back in the lineup to face Pomeranz, against whom he went 0-for-2 in the earlier head-to-head. Pollock is 3-for-25 (.120) with no RBIs in his past seven games."With A. J., I actually see it's coming around, his at-bats are getting better," Roberts told reporters before Monday's game. "With Alex, it's more just finding spots to get him involved. Samardzija throughout his career has been tough against right-handed hitters." If Roberts manages to squeeze both Pollock and Verdugo into Tuesday's lineup, chances are it won't come at the expense of Cody Bellinger, who will be getting his final opportunity to pad his record-breaking pre-May RBI total.Bellinger broke a tie with Mark McGwire and Juan Gonzalez with a run-scoring single in the sixth inning Monday, producing a 37th RBI this season.The Dodgers will counter on the mound with Walker Buehler (2-0, 5.25 ERA). The 24-year-old right-hander has alternated bad and good outings in his five starts so far this season.If the pattern holds, Buehler is due for a third strong effort, following up efforts in this second and fourth starts, during which he allowed just a combined six hits and one earned run in 11 1/3 innings.Buehler is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in three lifetime appearances, including one start, against the Giants.--Field Level Media
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