Dodgers 5, Giants 3: The Dodgers gave one away Monday night, but the Giants couldn't sneak off with tonight's game. This time, the Dodgers made better plays on defense, in particular the spectacular 1st inning outfield-to-home relay that cut down Randy Winn at the plate and saved a run.
Meanwhile the Giants made two key errors behind starter Jonathan Sanchez, leading to two unearned runs and running his pitch count to 95 through 5 innings. He was erratic most of the night, he battled, then he was done. The bullpen was shaky the rest of the way except for today's callup Osiris Matos. He threw the only 1-2-3 inning by any Giant pitcher tonight.
Their baserunning was dubious, as was their clutch hitting against Chad Billingsley, who looks like this year's version of Tim Lincecum. (Other than Tim Lincecum, of course.) Dude is nasty, but tonight the Giants had their chances.
If you can take a silver lining from this one, it's the three at-bats the Giants posted against the L.A. closer-beast Jonathan Broxton in the 8th. Broxton was not at his best but still throwing 98-99-100 MPH, and Ishikawa coaxed a walk. Juan Uribe battled for eight pitches before grounding into a bases-loaded force, and Rich Aurilia drew another walk to force home a run and temporarily tie the game. Even Uribe's work, which ended in an out without a run, was gritty, especially since he started the at-bat with two quick strikes.
Tomorrow is Lincecum's turn, and the Giants need him to go long. Despite tonight's loss, it's been a great series so far and I hope more indicative of the way these teams match up: tough starting pitching, smallish ball, and tough, patient at-bats. The Giants are like a hoops team that slows the tempo to a crawl against the run-and-gun favorites: Keep the score low and close, and you never know what'll happen.
Roster move: Andres Torres to the DL, Eugenio Velez back up. Bummer -- I was digging Torres's game so far. A little late-inning D, plate discipline, great speed, and a little power. Last note of the night: Manny Burriss is now 4-for-46 with 12 Ks against right handed pitchers, but 6 for 16 against lefties. I know it's a small sample size, but a platoon is mighty tempting.
