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The Leading Logic In Sports Handicapping |
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SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) -- James Loney drove in three runs and
the stingy bullpen did the rest as the Los Angeles Dodgers
seized a 5-3 win and took the series victory against the San
Francisco Giants Sunday afternoon.
Los Angeles completes its road swing with a 5-2 record and
prevented the Giants from posting their first winning homestand
of the season. San Francisco has lost 18 of its last 24
contests at AT&T Park and has not won a home series since May
9-11 against Philadelphia.
Loney gave Los Angeles a 1-0 lead on an RBI double, but the
Giants countered in the bottom of the first with an RBI
groundout by Bengie Molina.
"(Loney's) one of those hitters you keep shaking your head," Los
Angeles manager Joe Torre said. "He has an at-bat (where) he
looks overmatched - and then all of a sudden fires a double down
the line. He keeps putting numbers up there and he's hard to
defend because he goes line to line."
Loney, who hit both doubles with a two-strike count, wasn't even
sure of pitch location on the ball he hit for doubles.
"I had two strikes on me, so I just tried to put it in play,"
Loney said. "Usually when you get two strikes, for some reason
I've been focusing more and on the ball. I need to do that all
the time. I was just trying to get something I could get out
there. I don't know. I just reacted. I don't even know where
it was. It was in, I think."
Los Angeles sent eight batters to the plate in the third, but
scored just twice on an RBI single from Matt Kemp and a
sacrifice fly from Andre Ethier. Leading 3-1, the Dodgers
loaded the bases with two outs, but San Francisco starter Matt
Cain (5-7) recovered to strike out Delwyn Young to end the
uprising.
"We're playing the way we know we can play," Kemp said. "We're
getting runners on base. Andre and Loney are doing a great job
driving in a lot of runs and we're just playing good as a team.
Even when we get down, our mood never changes because we know we
can come back to win the game. Hopefully we can keep that up to
the All-Star break, and the next half too."
Rich Aurilia collected his 1,500th career hit in memorable
fashion, homering to left with one out in the fourth to cut the
Giants' deficit to 3-2.
"Numbers are great, it's kind of like a milestone, at the same
time this is probably something you enjoy more after you
retire," Aurilia said. "I'd be happier if I hit one to win the
game today."
Cain walked Kemp to start the fifth and gave up a single to
Ethier, putting runners at the corners with no outs. Loney then
drove in two more with a two-run double down the left field
line, staking the Dodgers to a 5-2 edge.
"That's always frustrating when little things go wrong," Cain
said. "It's always tough. They got some hits in the infield -
it's little things. It's disappointing for me, for us. I feel
like I let us down."
San Francisco mounted a rally in the fifth and had runners at
the corners with no outs after a double by Ray Durham and a
single from Randy Winn, prompting a pitching change. Brian
Falkenborg (1-1) shut the door, getting a shallow flyout from
Molina, a weak pop-up from Aaron Rowand and then struck out Jose
Castillo to end the threat.
The scoreless frame gave Falkenborg his first win since the 2004
season.
"Wins are like the Olympics for me, I guess," Falkenborg said.
"There's not very many to remember, so it's easy to remember
that one."
Eric Stults tossed four innings for the Dodgers, allowing two
runs and seven hits with four strikeouts.
Cain
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