Recap: Dodgers can’t keep pace with homer-happy Giants in 7-4 loss

Andrew Heaney first looked at the high arching drive in disgust, then toward the Dodgers dugout in disbelief.

For the fourth time Monday night, the Dodgers left-hander had given up a home run, his recent struggles with the long ball becoming an all-out calamity in a 7-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants.

And when he asked about his struggles postgame, it didn’t take him long to explain why.

“I was throwing s--- right down the middle,” he said.

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The Dodgers couldn’t overcome Andrew Heaney’s four home runs allowed on Monday, losing to the San Francisco Giants 7-4 in the first of a three-game series.

Down 6-2 after Heaney matched his career-high for home runs allowed, the Dodgers could only trim the deficit to 6-4 before Lewis Brinson put the game away with a solo blast in the ninth — marking only the third time in franchise history the Giants have hit five home runs in a game at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers magic number to clinch the NL West did drop to eight, after the San Diego Padres lost earlier in the day.

But the Dodgers couldn’t lower it anymore, squandering an early two-run lead after Heaney gave up four long balls and failing to come back down the stretch.

They are now 92-42.

Final: Giants 7, Dodgers 4

The Dodgers got one run back in the fourth inning, when Joey Gallo ripped an RBI double down the right-field line.

The Dodgers, however, wasted several opportunities for more.

The third inning ended when Trea Turner was caught stealing after popping up the bag at the end of his slide.

Gallo’s double in the fourth was followed by an unproductive fly out from Miguel Vargas and inning-ending strikeout by Cody Bellinger.

Then in the fifth, third base coach Dino Ebel made a mistake, calling for an overaggressive send on a Mookie Betts double that got Austin Barnes thrown out at home plate.

Ebel appeared to tap his chest after Barnes was called out, saying it was his bad.

End 5th: Giants lead 6-3

Andrew Heaney is once again having problems with the home run ball.

In the third inning, the left-hander threw a pair of center-cut fastballs that were swatted out of the park by the Giants — a two-run blast by Lewis Brinson to tie the game, then a solo homer by JD Davis that gave the Giants their first lead.

In the fourth, Heaney gave up two more — an outside changeup to Thairo Estrada that was sent sailing out to center for another solo shot, and a low fastball that David Villar hit into the right field pavilion for two more runs.

Heaney has now allowed 10 home runs in his last four starts, after giving up just one in his first seven outings this year.

It’s the third time in his career he’s given up four homers in a start.

Mid 4th: Giants lead 6-2

Freddie Freeman has been feast or famine with home runs this year.

In his first 58 games of the season, the slugger hit just four long balls.

Then, during a 35-game stretch from June 11 to July 23, he heated up with 11 big flies.

Lately, Freeman’s power had been in decline again, having hit just one home run in his previous 40 games.

He changed that, however, in the first inning, taking curling a two-run home run inside the right field foul pole off Logan Webb to open the scoring.

It was a two-run blast, after Evan Longoria committed an error that allowed Mookie Betts to reach base to lead off the game.

End 1st: Dodgers lead 2-0

After his first fully healthy month of the season, Andrew Heaney will return to the mound Monday night for his first start of September as the Dodgers open a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.

Heaney enters the game with a 2-1 record and 2.12 ERA in 10 starts this year. Since coming back for good from a couple shoulder injuries at the start of last month, he has a 3.29 ERA and 43 strikeouts in his past six starts.

The Giants will counter with Logan Webb (11-8, 2.89). His last time out against the Dodgers, the right-hander was rocked, giving up six runs in five innings.

Here is the Dodgers lineup for Monday:

Short hops

Dave Roberts said Gavin Lux will not play this series, as he continues to nurse a lower neck/upper back injury that required a cortisone shot over the weekend ... Brusdar Graterol (elbow) is getting closer to throwing off a mound. Tony Gonsolin (forearm) still has to extend his catch play before he will be ready to be at that point ... Ryan Pepiot was optioned before Monday’s game and replaced on the roster by reliever Justin Bruihl.

Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler warms up before Game 3 of the NLCS against the Atlanta Braves in October.

(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

Walker Buehler awoke after surgery last month, received the news he had been quietly bracing to hear, then put himself back in a familiar state of mind.

For the second time in his career, the Dodgers pitcher had to undergo Tommy John surgery, when damage to his ulnar collateral ligament was discovered and repaired during a season-ending elbow operation on Aug. 23.

He didn’t receive the official diagnosis until he had woken up from the anesthetics, since pre-surgery MRI exams hadn’t been able to clearly determine the full extent of an elbow injury that’d kept him off a mound since June.

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The Dodgers’ magic number is now … a magic number.

With nine more Dodgers wins, San Diego Padres losses or some combination of the two, the Dodgers will once again be champions of the National League West.

And based on the last couple of nights at Chavez Ravine, it shouldn’t take much longer.

Despite using eight pitchers in what essentially became an unplanned bullpen game Sunday night, the Dodgers still blew the Padres away in a weekend series rubber match at Dodger Stadium, winning 9-4 to move a step closer to reclaiming a division title they won eight consecutive years from 2013 to 2020 before finishing second last season.

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Here’s a look at the Dodgers broadcast and streaming schedule for the remainder of the 2022 regular season: