SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants were far from full strength in their first matchup of the year against the Dodgers last month, and it showed. Unable to overcome a COVID outbreak and a rash of injuries to several regulars, the Giants were overmatched by their archrivals, leading to a two-game sweep at Dodger Stadium.
A healthier version of the Giants proved more competitive in Round 2 at Oracle Park on Friday night, rolling to a 7-2 win over the Dodgers behind a pair of home runs from Darin Ruf.
But the victory was marred by renewed injury concerns, with right-hander Jakob Junis (left hamstring strain) and third baseman Evan Longoria (left hamstring tightness) both exiting early.
Junis, who has emerged as one of San Francisco’s most consistent starters since filling in for the injured Anthony DeSclafani in the rotation, held the Dodgers to two runs over five-plus innings, but he departed after collapsing on the mound while delivering his fourth pitch of the sixth. Junis immediately grabbed his left leg and promptly left the game, limping off the field with athletic trainer L.J. Petra and manager Gabe Kapler.
“To pitch well against a team like that and for that to happen at the very back end of that outing, it’s pretty frustrating, I’m not going to lie,” Junis said. “I’m hoping for the best.”
Junis, who has a 2.63 ERA over nine appearances this season, will undergo an MRI exam on Saturday to determine the severity of the injury. Kapler acknowledged that it’s possible the 29-year-old right-hander could require a stint on the injured list, which would be a blow to a team that is already down two starters in DeSclafani (right ankle inflammation) and Alex Cobb (neck strain).
“It’s a concern,” Kapler said. “That means we’re going to have to do some work to fill that spot in the rotation. We’ll do some work to fill the roster spot and do everything we can to weather the storm, if we lose an excellent starter for us who’s been as good as anybody in our rotation since he’s been in there.”
DeSclafani is scheduled to make his first rehab start with Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday, but he won’t be eligible to return from the 60-day IL until June 21 at the earliest. Cobb won’t be available until at least June 19, so the Giants could turn to left-hander Sam Long, who will start on Saturday, or pitching prospect Sean Hjelle to fill the gaps in their rotation, if needed.
Junis’ departure came shortly after the Giants lost Longoria, who opened the scoring with an RBI double off Walker Buehler in the second, but then tweaked his hamstring while scoring from second base on Brandon Crawford’s single. Longoria was replaced by Thairo Estrada at third in the top of the fifth and is considered day to day.
The losses put a damper on an otherwise strong night for the Giants, who saw Ruf break out for his third career multi-homer game and Joc Pederson go 2-for-4 with two RBIs against his former team.
Ruf’s performance was particularly uplifting, since the veteran slugger has been playing with a heavy heart after unexpectedly losing his father, Bill, on May 30. He missed six games while on the bereavement list, but he carried the Giants on Friday, crushing a no-doubt shot to left field off Buehler in the fourth and adding a solo homer off David Price in the eighth to cap his three-hit night.
“It’s been a tough couple of weeks,” Ruf said. “To go out and perform like that in a big game when things haven’t gone great for me this season is really special.”
The Giants entered the fifth clinging to a 3-2 lead, but they managed to pull away with a three-run rally against Dodgers reliever Justin Bruihl after Buehler departed with right elbow discomfort. With a pair of runners on and two outs, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts elected to intentionally walk Wilmer Flores to load the bases and set up a left-on-left matchup between Bruihl and Pederson, who entered Friday with a .610 career OPS against southpaws.
The move backfired, as Pederson came through with a two-run single to right field that extended the Giants’ lead to 5-2. Ruf followed with an RBI single, sending the sellout crowd of 39,701 into a frenzy.
“We got a lot of good contributions from everybody,” Ruf said. “It felt like a great team win. The crowd brings some energy when the Dodgers are in town. It’s always exciting to play in these games.”