Shutout Streak Ends as Giants Beat Dodgers 12-6 in San Francisco Opener

SAN FRANCISCO – The Dodgers extended their franchise-best scoreless inning streak to 31, but the wheels fell off from there as Los Angeles lost their first game of the season at the hands of the rival Giants, 12-6, in San Francisco's home opener on Thursday.

Fireworks went off before the game as the Giants officially celebrated their first home game of the season in front of a sellout crowd of 41,940 at AT&T Park, but the explosions were on the field, as both teams combined for 18 runs on 30 hits.

Hunter Pence capped the game off with a grand slam in the eighth inning, and Joe Panik drove in three runs as the Giants came back from an early 4-0 deficit.

Adrian Gonzalez hit his second double of the game in the third inning, as the Dodgers took an early 3-0 lead. Scott Van Slyke – starting in place of Carl Crawford – knocked in a run with a double of his own in the fifth.

Alex Wood (0-1) pitched four scoreless innings before everything went pear-shaped in the fifth. Brandon Crawford started the inning off with a walk, pinch hitter Kelby Tomlinson singled, before Panik knocked in a run with an RBI triple two batters later.

"We can beat you in many different ways," Panik told the media. "We never think we're done."

Wood was still in a position to get the victory as he left the mound with a 4-3 lead and runners on first and second in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went to the bullpen and replaced him with Yimi Garcia. Garcia promptly allowed four runs in the inning, and a four-run lead quickly turned into a three-run hole.

"They just did a good job of executing," Woods told reporters after the game. "They've got a good lineup. They don't strike out a lot. They put a lot of balls in play. They do a good job of moving guys over, getting guys in. Just good baseball by them."

Joc Pederson hit his first home run of the season in the top of the eighth to bring the Dodgers within one, but Pence's slam shut the door on the Dodgers hopes of a comeback. Pederson hit 26 home runs as a rookie last season and participated in the MLB All-Star Home Run Derby.

Chris Heston (1-0) picked up the win for San Francisco with a scoreless sixth inning of relief for starter Jake Peavy.

Players of the Game:

Adrian Gonzalez: 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Two doubles.
Joc Pederson: 2-for-4 with two RBI. Two-run home run.
Joe Panik: 3-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored.
Hunter Pence: 1-for-4 with four RBI. Grand slam.

Three Takeaways:

1. Falling Short of History: The Los Angeles Dodgers started the season with 31 shutout innings, a franchise record, and one inning short of the all-time Major Leage record of 32 innings set by the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals.

Dodgers: 31 straight scoreless innings pitched, 1 shy of 1963 Cardinals' MLB-record scoreless streak to start a season (via @EliasSports) — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) April 7, 2016

2. Can't Win Em' All: Dodgers manager Dave "Doc" Roberts lost his first career game as a manager to his former team, the San Francisco Giants. Roberts spent his final two seasons (2007-2008) with the rival Giants and played for San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy in San Diego.

Dave Roberts reacts to his first defeat as #Dodgers manager.

📺 | https://t.co/Pu2qAbUPcg pic.twitter.com/IjkCdD6Cp8 — SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) April 8, 2016

3. Feeling Bloated: The Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff entered the game with an MLB-best ERA of 0.00. They allowed 12 runs on Thursday, ballooning that ERA to a whopping 3.09.

Dodgers pitching staff's ERA pic.twitter.com/yNkoOIWVPs — Lee Gearhart (@LeeGearhart) April 7, 2016

Up Next:

Dodgers (3-1): The first act of the greatest rivalry in baseball got off to a fantastic start, and will continue tomorrow as rookie right-hander Ross Stripling makes his MLB debut.

Giants: (3-1): First place in the NL West will be up for grabs tomorrow as Matt Cain takes the hill for the Giants. Game time is set for 7:15 PM PST.