ICYMI: San Francisco Giants skipper Gabe Kapler ejected for the first time following confrontation between LHP Jarlin Garcia and the Dodgers' Mookie Betts

San Francisco Giants skipper Gabe Kapler was ejected from the sidelines during his side’s 5-3 defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Giants have now lost four on the bounce, allowing the Dodgers to sweep the series for the second time this season.

Since the All-Star break, the Giants have dropped 12 of their last 15 games - the worst run by any team in the MLB.

As if losing and continuing their abysmal run wasn’t enough, the Giants’ outing took a turn for the worse. Skipper Gabe Kapler was ejected from the sidelines after a heated exchange with home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi.

"A fiery Gabe Kapler was ejected following Jarlin García's exchange with Mookie Betts to end the top of the sixth inning" - SF Giants on NBCS

The root cause behind the argument was some hand-gesture appropriation by San Francisco reliever Jarlín García.

After striking out James Outman in the sixth, García curled his fist near his head, mirroring a Mookie Betts celebration.

"This is the initial exchange between García and the Dodgers that preceded Kapler's ejection" - SF Giants on NBCS

Betts roared back and confronted Garcia. Umpire Cuzzi addressed Kapler following the episode. His words struck a nerve with the usually calm Giants skipper, causing Kapler to react the way he did.

“I didn’t articulate myself well at the time, but the conversation was basically: that wasn’t OK, that behavior wasn’t OK, and obviously I took exception to being scolded in front of our dugout about how to approach and address our players — which I had done and I would do no matter what, so we didn’t really need any prompting there,” Kapler explained.

This was Kapler’s first sending off in his Giants tenure.

The San Francisco Giants quickly need to turn things around

Toothless is perhaps the best word to describe the San Francisco Giants this season. It wasn’t any different today and truth be told, it hasn’t been any different for a very long time.

Gavin Lux's one-run RBI drove home Max Muncy to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. The Giants’ newly-acquired utility man J.D. Davis replied with a two-run homer to put them 2-1 ahead in the bottom second.

Mookie Betts put the Dodgers back in front with a three-run homer in the fourth - his 25th of the year. Trea Turner added his 18th homer of the campaign in the seventh to stretch the Dodgers’ lead to 5-2.

Giants first baseman Brandon Belt scored off Dodgers closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth to rubber-stamp the 5-3 scoreline.

The San Francisco Giants will be traveling to Oakland next, where they will take on the Athletics in the latest Bay Bridge Series.