Off day for the bullpen exposes Dodgers’ lineup struggles
As the offense continues to underwhelm, the Dodgers can't survive a poor outing from their bullpen against the Giants
May 11, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) looks on from the dugout in the first inning against against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images As Roki Sasaki and Trevor McDonald took different paths to deliver extremely similar results—Sasaki navigating through far less traffic than McDonald—it was up to the bullpens to decide this game, and the Giants’ one proved superior on the evening, securing a 9-3 win to open up this four-game set at Dodger Stadium. Hanging splitters and a lack of swing-and-miss action on the fastball proved costly for Sasaki.
As disappointing as Sasaki might be with the loss, a second straight start allowing just three runs and pitching into the sixth at least shouldn’t be dismissed—it represents growth from where he was a couple of weeks ago. At the same time, a bitter taste is to be expected when you cough up the lead as you exit, seeing the Giants score two of their three runs against him in the sixth, an inning in which he failed to record an out. The Giants scored a run against Sasaki in the second and sixth.
In both times, Rafael Devers provided key hits, first by waiting on six straight fastballs to hit a hanging splitter over the right-field wall—later on, Devers went well outside of the zone to dump an 0-1 fastball into left field, advancing to second as the Dodgers tried to nab the baserunner at third. With two in scoring position, the subsequent single from Helliot Ramos handed the Giants a 3-2 lead. When Sasaki left the game, he was responsible for a runner at second with no outs, but Blake Treinen carried on the recent success of this somewhat depleted bullpen by keeping the score at 3-2.
It was a short-lived lead for the Giants as the Dodgers answered back in the bottom of the sixth with a home run from Max Muncy, his eleventh of the season, and one that puts him three behind Eric Karros in the all-time leaderboard for Dodger Stadium long balls at 127. Back-to-back days with a homer from Max! pic.
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