RICK EYMER
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jake Peavey couldn’t help the San Francisco Giants avoid a loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday night. His new teammates are hoping it’s not too late for Peavy to help turn things around the rest of the year.
Gregor Blanco and Michael Morse managed the only two hits off Clayton Kershaw, who has made a habit of shutting down the Giants, and San Francisco lost 5-0 to Los Angeles.
Ryan Vogelsong (5-8) retired the first 11 batters before Hunter Pence lost Gonzalez’s double in the sun with two outs in the fourth. Hanley Ramirez followed with an RBI single.
The Giants have been shut out in four of Vogelsong’s last five starts and the right-hander has received an average of two runs per game of support at home, the second-lowest in the NL. Vogelsong lost his fifth straight decision, matching his longest such streak since 2011.
“I stopped making good pitches,” Vogelsong said. “I can’t out a finger on it other than I missed some spots and they got some hits.”
Joaquin Arias was the lone Giants hitter to reach as far as second base against Kershaw and he reached on a fielding error.
Peavy, acquired from the Boston Red Sox earlier in the day, has dominated the Dodgers the way Kershaw has pitched against the Giants. He’s 14-2 against Los Angeles and his 2.21 ERA is the lowest against the Dodgers of any major league starter.
The Giants are sending him to the mound in Sunday’s series finale hoping to end a three-game skid.
“I’m excited to get here and pitch,” Peavy said. “That’s what I know. There’s not a whole lot of time to think about things. I’ll get here early and do some cramming.”
Peavy credits Giants manager Bruce Bochy for helping turn him into a major league pitcher. He was drafted in the 15th round by the San Diego Padres in 1999 and played under Bochy through the 2006 season.
“Boch is my guy. He took care of me,” Peavy said. “He taught me how to be a professional and how to get my work done.”
He’s joining a team that has faltered at home the past month. The Giants have lost 18 of their last 24 home games and have won one of their last eight series at home.
“We’ve been running into some pretty good pitching,” Bochy said. “Kershaw is one of the best. When you’re going against a guy like that, you have to find a way to scratch and claw to score a run.”
Kershaw (12-2) walked one and struck out seven in his ninth career shutout and second this season. It was also his fourth complete game of the year and 15th of his career. The left-hander improved to 12-6 with a 1.40 ERA in 23 career games against the Giants, including 7-2 with a 0.69 ERA at AT&T Park.
NOTES: Giants C Hector Sanchez was placed on the 7-day DL with a mild concussion. C Andrew Susac was recalled from Triple-A Fresno and made his major league debut as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning. … Peavey, who arrived at the park during the sixth after being acquired from Boston, is 8-5 in San Francisco.
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