Hicks’ strong start resumes in first taste of Giants-Dodgers rivalry

Hicks’ strong start resumes in first taste of Giants-Dodgers rivalry originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Over the course of 30-plus starts, every pitcher will have the occasional night that blows up the ERA. The Los Angeles Dodgers, as Logan Webb was rudely reminded on the first road trip, are as good a candidate as any to be on the opposing end.

When Mookie Betts hit a leadoff homer Monday, it looked like Jordan Hicks would finally have a true off night in the ninth start of his transition from the bullpen. But Hicks settled in, scattering six other hits, getting a huge boost from Mike Yastrzemski, and striking out a pair when he ran into trouble in the fourth, as his pitch count started to rise.

In his first taste of the rivalry, Hicks was charged with two earned runs over five innings. It was the eighth time in nine starts that he has allowed fewer than three earned, and he walked off the mound with a 2.44 ERA, the sixth-lowest in the National League.

It was another solid night for Hicks, although he wasn’t in a mood to savor it too much, especially after the Dodgers repeatedly got to the bullpen and won 6-4 in extra innings.

“It wasn’t a great start with the homer, but he battled that at-bat and saw pretty much everything and then made a good swing on a not-my-greatest slider,” he said. “Overall, I just wish I could have gone a little deeper and got ahead more. I feel like I was 2-0 a lot and then battled back … it was just a lot of deep counts. It’s just (about) getting ahead early, not getting 2-0 and digging myself out of the hole. That could probably help with the pitch counts and then going deep into games.”

As the Giants have seen repeatedly this season, the deep Dodgers lineup is hard to get through even a second time. Hicks’ best stretch came in the fourth, when he struck out Teoscar Hernandez and Gavin Lux with a runner on first, but that took a toll. He threw 13 total pitches to the six and seven hitters, with both going 3-2.

After spinning a tight slider that Lux waved at, Hicks pumped his fist into his glove and screamed. He showed a bit of extra emotion all night with 35,000-plus in the stands and the league’s most star-studded lineup on the other side.

“Good energy out there today. Not that there hasn’t been in my previous starts,…