As the San Francisco Giants closed out their four game stint in Los Angeles tonight, they were looking to get out of dodge with an even 2-2 record, but the Dodgers had other plans. L.A. used a 3 run first inning and a 4 run seventh to eventually beat the Giants by a score of 7-5, despite 3 home runs by the defending champion Giants.
Barry Zito (ND 0-0) had himself a nice outing this evening going 6 full innings allowing 3 earned runs on 3 hits, with 2 walks and 5 strikeouts. He had all three of his runs scored against him in the first where in a total of 15 pitches Zito allowed a 2 run homer to Matt Kemp and an RBI triple to Jaime Carroll when Aubrey Huff misplayed a fly ball and whiffed the diving catch. After the first Zito went through 14 straight Dodger hitters until he gave up back-to-back walks in the 7th. The bullpen was a bit shaky, especially Dan Runzler who allowed 4 earned runs on four hits in only 1/3 of an inning of work. Runzler was tabbed with the loss for the game (0-1).
As for the Giants offense, Pablo Sandoval started the comeback as he recorded his first home run of the season, rocketing one 10 rows deep to right field in the second. Buster Posey hit an RBI single in the sixth that scored Freddy Sanchez, then Pat Burrell ended his 1-13 start of the season with a homer to left field in the seventh. Aaron Rowand hit a pinch hit blast off closer Jonathan Broxton in the 9th, but it wasn’t enough as Broxton completed the save opportunity.
Hiroki Kuroda (1-0) got the win for the Dodgers, lasting 7 full innings with 6 hits, 3 earned runs, no walks and 5 strikeouts tonight.
Complete box score can be found here.
The Giants will have a day off tomorrow before they begin their two game series with the San Diego Padres on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 3:35 p.m. with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.
For more analysis and discussion head over to our Giants blog, McCovey Chronicles, to get your fix.