The Dodgers were facing an uphill battle on Wednesday afternoon in San Francisco. Chad Billingsley was out with a sore left hamstring, and Tim Lincecum was staring them down from the opposing pitching mound.
Down 2-1 entering the ninth, Lincecum stayed on to attempt the complete game. He came close, but an RBI single by Andre Ethier tied it at two, chasing an angry Lincecum back to the dugout.
The comeback was sweet, but that would be the last good moment on this day. Guillermo Mota came on and again stunk it up in extras. A walk-off two-run homer by Juan Uribe gave the Giants the win, 4-2.
The Giants were understandably on edge after dropping the first two games of what could have been a golden chance to gain some ground in the NL West. After falling 9-1 on Tuesday, they needed Lincecum to step up, and he did. What they also did was cause a near brawl.
In the fifth, the Giants took a two run lead. Eugenio Valez lead off with a ground rule double to center. Freddy Sanchez hit a single that allowed Valez to score. On the play, as Russell Martin jumped in the air to get the high throw, he was taken out by the sliding Valez. It wasn't an intentional play, it just happened.
Maybe Pablo Sandoval thought James McDonald was angry about it, because the next pitch was inside and nearly hit him. The Kung Fu Crybaby... er, Panda, yelled out at the mound, as Martin then yelled back, causing both benches to empty. No harm done as nobody was ejected.
A bases loaded walk to Fred Lewis let the second run score, as Hong-Chih Kuo had a hard time finding the strike zone relieving in the fifth.
Juan Pierre pinch-hit for Kuo with one down in the sixth, and he tripled to deep center. An RBI groundout by Rafael Furcal put the Dodgers down by one.
That's how it remained until the ninth. Furcal hit a slow roller to short that he just beat out, or so said the first base umpire. Bruce Bochy had already been ejected earlier, now the acting manager Randy Wotus also was shown the door. I don't think I've ever seen two managers get tossed like that.
Anyway, Martin flied out to deep center, and Raffy tagged up to second on a very heads-up play. That would prove to be a great decision, as Ethier ripped a single past second to tie it up.
George Sherrill did his usual stellar job by pitching the eighth and ninth innings. He escaped potential trouble by getting a pinch-hitting Aaron Rowand to ground into an inning-ending double play to end the ninth.
Mota must not be money in extra innings, because he again gave up a long home run, just as he did last Saturday against the Braves. Uribe left no doubt by crushing one deep to left that Manny Ramirez could only watch.
Joe Torre said before the game that this would be a committee approach for his pitchers, and he wasn't kidding. Jeff Weaver pitched the first three innings, and did a good job by giving up no runs. A combination of McDonald, Kuo, Ronald Belisario, Ramon Troncoso, Sherrill, and Mota followed. Since there's an off day Thursday, Torre had this planned all along.
Even with the Giants getting the win, this series was obviously more successful for the Dodgers. They took two of three, increasing their lead over the Giants by one to 6 and 1/2. The Rockies, on the other hand, just won't quit, as they're 5 and 1/2 back.
After playing 20 games in 20 days, the Dodgers mercifully have a day off on Thursday. It's about damn time! They then go to Arizona for three. The DBacks are a total afterthought these days, so the Dodgers should try to get at least two.
The first game should be good, as Clayton Kershaw takes on Dan Haren.
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