After the San Francisco Giants error prone start to the season, they really picked it up today against the Los Angeles Dodgers. With no errors and 13 hits, including a homer by Freddy Sanchez, the G-Men won handedly by a score of 10-0 at Dodger Stadium this afternoon.
Matt Cain (1-0) had a great outing today going 6 full innings allowing only 5 hits, no walks, no runs, and 3 strikeouts. Cain threw 86 pitches today, a low number compared to last year, especially with how he was throwing today. Giants beat writer Hank Schulman tweeted this about Cain’s outing:
Cain is done after only 86 pitches. That tells me they still think his elbow is going to be an issue.
I certainly hope not.
Javier Lopez pitched the 7th, allowing 2 hits, no runs and a strikeout, Ramon Ramirez pitched a scoreless eighth with one hit, and Jeremy Affeldt closed it down in the ninth.
The Giants offense was buzzing today, doing the majority of their damage in the fifth and sixth innings. The G-Men started off with a RBI groundout by Miguel Tejada in the second, then opened it up with 3 runs in the 5th, all with two outs. they added 4 more in the sixth with RBI by Freddy Sanchez, Mark DeRosa, and Aubrey Huff. Freddy added a solo homer in the 8th, and DeRosa added an RBI groundout in the top of the ninth, his second of the day.
The Giants knocked out Ted Lilly (0-1) early in the game as he lasted only 4 2/3 innings, allowing 6 hits, 4 runs, one walk, and 3 strikeouts. The Dodgers bullpen didn’t fare any better, as Mike MacDougal, Kensley Jansen, and Lance Cormier combined to allow the other 6 Giants runs on 7 hits. Matt Kemp continued his nice start going 1-3 with a double.
Full box score can be found here.
The Giants will finish their series with the Dodgers tomorrow as Barry Zito is set to get the start for the G-Men, facing Hiroki Kuroda for the Dodgers. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN 2 and heard on KNBR 680.
For more discussion and analysis of everything Giants, head over to our Giants blog, McCovey Chronicles, to get your fix.