Alex Wood is sharp but bullpen lets down Dodgers in 4-3 loss to Giants

On nights when Clayton Kershaw does not pitch, the deployment of Dodgers pitchers often resembles a procession of men stepping across a high wire. The starter rarely appears in the seventh inning. The relievers building the bridge to closer Kenley Jansen can incite anxiety. The process is fraught with peril.

In a 4-3 loss to the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday, the group teetered until tumbling into the abyss. Alex Wood gave up one hit, but left the game after the sixth inning. The bullpen coughed up the lead in spectacular fashion, ending when the Giants loaded the bases with no outs in the 10th off Ross Stripling, who gave up walkoff sacrifice fly to Hunter Pence.

By then, the bullpen had already let manager Dave Roberts down. Sergio Romo served up a two-run homer to rookie Christian Arroyo in the seventh. An inning later, Pedro Baez surrendered a solo shot to pinch-hitter Michael Morse. It was the first run of the year allowed by Baez; Romo saw his ERA balloon to 10.57.

“Up 3-0, we’ve got to close it out,” Roberts said. “I liked the guys in the spots that they were in for the last nine outs of the game. It just didn’t work out.”

The game resembled so many the Dodgers (10-12) played in 2016, when Roberts settled upon this formula as his club’s best hope for survival. It lacks aesthetic beauty. It incites the rage of purists who miss a bygone era. It also, at least for most of last season, involved enough wins to secure another National League West title.

The formula has been less successful in 2017. The offense bears some responsibility for the team’s rocky start. On Wednesday they produced all of their runs in a sixth-inning rally, with a solo home run by Corey Seager, then runs batted in by Chase Utley and Andrew Toles, the two least productive members of the lineup. It wasn’t enough cushion.

By the 10th, the ending was an anticlimax. Returning to the mound for a second inning, Stripling gave up a single to the first batter and walked the next. On a bunt by backup catcher Nick Hundley, Adrian Gonzalez tried to force Gorkys Hernandez at third base. Hernandez beat the throw, and scored after a 10-pitch at-bat by Pence, in which Stripling threw only fastballs above the waist.

“I don’t like to second-guess sequencing too much,” Roberts said, but he noted the oddity of the approach.

The decision to remove Wood relied upon data and faith. Wood had thrown 77 pitches, and his performance tends to decline significantly after he reaches the 75-pitch mark. He has not thrown more than six innings this season. Roberts combined that knowledge with the trust he is trying to build within his bullpen. Neither Romo nor Baez could reward Roberts for his loyalty.

Romo struggles against left-handed pitchers, but Wednesday he hung a slider to Arroyo, a right-handed batter. Arroyo responded with the first homer of his career. Baez lost a duel with Morse, the hulking outfielder who has played for five teams since 2013. Morse crushed a belt-high fastball for a brief reprise of the role he played for these Giants in 2014.

With Julio Urias debuting Thursday, the Dodgers’ starting rotation will expand to six pitchers. Wood may be the one who gets squeezed. On Wednesday, he pitched like a man not interested in returning to the bullpen, retiring the first 10 batters he faced and striking out five in three innings. He lost his bid for a perfect game when Brandon Belt took a walk in the fourth.

Up to that point, the Dodgers’ offense had provided no support. The lineup is littered with potholes, a group of quality players unable to find traction. Justin Turner has hit for average, but has yet to hit a home run. Still hampered by soreness in his right elbow, Adrian Gonzalez is also without a home run. Toles entered the game batting .208. Utley started the night hitting .032.

The reliance on Toles and Utley derived from injuries to outfielder Andre Ethier and second baseman Logan Forsythe. A dearth of options led Roberts to install rookie Cody Bellinger, a veteran of precisely nine innings in the majors, as the leadoff hitter. Bellinger struck out in his three at-bats against Giants starter Johnny Cueto.

In the sixth, Seager broke Cueto’s spell. Cueto tempted Seager with fastballs at the chest, but Seager did not bite. With the count full, Cueto flung a 92-mph fastball that Seager launched to center field for a solo shot.

Turner then singled and Grandal doubled. A walk by Yasiel Puig loaded the bases. Utley fished for a low changeup and dumped an RBI single into left for only his second hit of the season. Toles drove in a third run when he sprinted through the bag to avoid a double play.

Handed a three-run lead, Wood lost his chance for a no-hitter. He surrendered a leadoff single to outfielder Drew Stubbs, who sent a changeup rolling through the left side of the infield. Wood was not perturbed. He finished the inning to send the high-wire act into its harrowing next stage.

“The bullpen’s been great all year for us,” Wood said. “It was a tough one for us tonight. But it happens.”

andy.mccullough@latimes.com

Twitter: @McCulloughTimes