Giants see best of Camilo Doval in his return, but Dodgers prevail

Camilo Doval returned to the Oracle Park mound for the first time since being traded to the Yankees last year, and wow - what a reintroduction for the former San Francisco Giants closer.

The prodigal right-hander hit 99.5 mph with his fastball and struck out Mookie Betts , Shohei Ohtani and Dalton Rushing in the seventh inning of San Francisco 's 4-3 loss to the Dodgers; the Giants tied it up in the eighth on Bo Davidson's sacrifice fly, but Kiké Hernández 's homer off Trent Harris in the ninth provided the difference.

The Giants are a major-league worst 16-29 in one-run games after Saturday, one reason the team needs to bolster the bullpen - making Doval all the more intriguing.

Walks helped hasten Doval's departure last year, as he at times struggled throwing strikes, so the Ks are impressive. But as the Giants determine whether he's part of their plans next year, they'll have to be convinced he can throw strikes consistently. San Francisco's first order of business this winter is to improve the late-inning options, though, so Doval's velocity, and his success against the top of the L.A. order, won't hurt his chances, nor will his eagerness to pitch for the Giants.

With Doval's appearance Saturday, the Giants tied the 2025 Braves for most players used in a season, with 71.

They have a shot at setting the all-time record Sunday if catcher Zach Morgan, still on the taxi squad, makes his debut. Manager Tony Vitello has said repeatedly that he would like to get Morgan into a game after two stints on the roster without being used.

With all this roster upheaval, the idea this final month is to find possible keepers for next season, and among other things, the Giants have found a young pitcher who likes to face the Dodgers. Matt "Tugboat" Wilkinson jumped into the rivalry with five scoreless innings last Sunday and three innings Saturday in which he allowed just a solo homer by Betts.

After he left the game, things shifted slightly, Los Angeles scoring twice in the fourth off Duncan Davitt, while Blake Snell , the onetime Giants starter, held his old team down with little fuss in his four innings. San Francisco, shut out the night before in Tarik Skubal 's start, got a sacrifice fly from Turner Hill in the fourth and nothing more until Drew Cavanaugh's pinch-hit RBI triple in the seventh.

Cavanaugh also dunked a two-out, two-strike double down the third-base line in the ninth, but Tanner Scott struck out Christian Koss to end it.

Briefly: Left-hander Seth Lonsway was promoted from Triple-A Sacramento, with the Giants optioning out Friday night starter Yunior Marte . A sixth-round pick in 2021, Lonsway had a 5.11 ERA in 24 outings with Triple-A Sacramento but he's had good numbers against lefties, who hit him at a .218 rate this year. ... Going into Sunday's finale, San Francisco is a season-high 31 games under .500 and trying to avoid a Dodgers sweep and prevent L.A. from winning 100 games.