Matt Cain came into tonight's game with 50 career wins in six seasons and a 3.44 ERA. He's easily one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, and a guy that Giants have built around.
But for whatever reason, he just cannot beat the Dodgers.
That continued on Tuesday, as the Dodgers scored three runs with two outs in the fifth to break a tie, and they went on to win, 4-2. That's two straight over the Giants, and combined with two straight losses by the Padres, the Dodgers are three games back in the NL West.
With the loss, Cain is now 0-8 in his career against the Dodgers. I can't even explain how that's possible, it's just one of those weird things. But hey, I'll gladly take it.
The game wasn't without some bad news, though. Manny Ramirez tweaked his hamstring sliding back into second base in the first inning. He's currently listed as day-to-day.
Both teams traded runs in the first. With two outs, Andre Ethier drew a walk. Manny hit a single that put Ethier on third. An RBI single by James Loney made it 1-0. With Matt Kemp being inserted into the game to run for Manny, Casey Blake walked to load the bases. Blake DeWitt couldn't do anything with it, though, as he fouled out to third.
Andres Torres started things off for the Giants with a double. Pablo Sandoval's flyout got Torres over to third. Aubrey Huff hit a sac-fly RBI to tie the game at 1-1.
For the next few innings, both John Ely and Cain put up blanks. Ely got some help in the third with a double play ball from Sandoval, which just killed the Giants the game before.
In the fifth, the Dodgers took the lead for good. Not surprisingly, it all started with Raffy. He singled leading off, and went to second on Russell Martin's single. Ethier and Kemp both couldn't get on, so it was up to Loney. Martin helped himself with a steal, and Loney came through in a big way with a two-run single to make it 3-1. Blake's RBI single pushed the lead to 4-1.
Once again, the Giants' own boneheaded baserunning killed a potential rally in the sixth. Sandoval reached on an error by Loney, though Ely was just as much at fault for not touching the base when covering first. Huff then flew out to center for one down.
Next up was Pat Burrell, who singled to right. Sandoval, however, overran second, and was gunned out from behind by Ethier. Juan Uribe grounded into a forceout to end the inning. Basically, it was another horrendous decision on the bases that cost his team dearly.
The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the seventh. Ethier and Kemp both singled, and Blake drew the intentional pass. Ronnie Belliard pinch-hit for DeWitt and struck out. Reed Johnson also fanned to squash any chance of adding more runs.
After Bengie Molina walked to start the bottom of the seventh. Renteria promptly... you guessed it, grounded into a double play. Aaron Rowand grounded out to end that inning.
Ely exited after seven great innings, and Ramon Troncoso worked around one single to close the door in the eighth.
With Jonathan Broxton (thankfully) getting another day off, whom would Joe Torre turn to as the temporary closer for the night? If you guessed Justin Miller, you're either cheating or are lucky.
It didn't start off so well for Miller, as Burrell homered leading off. Uribe and Travis Ishikawa were then retired for two down, but Renteria singled to keep hope alive.
Ronald Belisario then made an appearance, as he got Buster Posey lining out to end the game. It was Belisario's first career save in 103 games.
Ely was awesome, as he's rebounded very well from a rough stretch not too long ago. He went seven innings for five hits, one run, three walks, and five strikeouts. He got plenty of help from his defense, which turned two double plays and got the big outfield assist from Ethier in the sixth.
Quietly, Loney continues to put up some great numbers. It seems like he does this every year, but doesn't get the proper credit. He had the big two-run single in the fifth, and is now up to 54 RBIs, tops on the team. He won't power the ball out of the park, but finds ways to produce with hard-hitting liners.
I'll be the first to admit that I didn't think the Dodgers would win the first two games, especially by close 4-2 scores. They looked mentally done late in the game against the Yankees on Sunday. It turns out that playing on the road the very next day was the best thing that could have happened. Give credit where it's due - they've stepped up and played great.
Vicente Padilla will look for the sweep on Wednesday afternoon. He pitched very well against the Yankees last Friday. He'll be opposed by Jonathan Sanchez, who has great numbers at home. It should be a good one.
No comments:
Post a Comment