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Dodgers a step ahead of the Giants again in 6-1 win
By Morris Phillips April 11, 2011 |
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The focus of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry returned to the field on Monday, away, if only temporarily, from the tragic assault on Bryan Stow March 31 in a Dodger Stadium parking lot. And on the field, Clayton Kershaw garnered all of the attention, dominating the Giants in a 6-1 victory. If the Dodgers are to have a big season, Kershaw figures to be their best player, a hard throwing 23-year old lefty who in his short major league career has already made seven starts against the Giants and seemingly pitched better against the orange-and-black every time out. In this one, he shut the Giants down for 6 2/3 innings, allowing six harmless hits in which he never allowed any of the Giants’ hitters to square up his hard stuff that sparkled with late movement. Kershaw hasn't allowed a run in his last 23 2/3 innings pitched against the Giants. “Over the last couple of years he’s added the slider and the changeup and gives him different weapons. He’s starting to be able to command both sides of the plate. Changes the whole game. When he first came up he really couldn’t get the ball away from right handed hitters, a lot of balls in. And now he’s able to command both sides of the plate. He’s got four pitches. He’s a handful,” Los Angeles Manager Don Mattingly said. With Kershaw on his game, the Giants’ defense robbed them of any opportunity to compete with a pair of costly gaffes. Pat Burrell misplayed Matt Kemp’s single, allowing the ball to roll to the wall in the sixth as two Dodgers scored to put L.A. up 5-0. On the Dodgers’ first run, a wicked liner glanced off Freddy Sanchez’ glove as Kemp was running hard all the way and scored from second base when the ball rolled into short right. Madison Bumgarner pitched in traffic for five plus innings, but he looked good for the most part, working an effective fastball and a change. Rod Barajas hit Bumgarner’s most generous offering, a first pitch home run in the fifth. The 21-year old lefty just was not good enough to hang with Kershaw or overcome the defense behind him. Most disturbing for the Giants though is a pattern is developing. The Dodgers are running much more aggressively and the Giants porous infield defense has served as a launching pad for all the activity on the base paths in all four losses to Los Angeles. If these rivalry games are going to devolve into beat out a ground ball, take an extra base type of affairs, the Giants are going to need to get a leg up with better defense with the Dodgers running well enough to support their above average pitching. Offensively, the Giants got contributions from Aubrey Huff (two hits) and Burrell (two hits, two walks and a ninth inning home run) but Miguel Tejada and Sanchez went 1 for 8 as the miscast table setters in the absence of injured Andres Torres. Rowand and Brandon Belt both run producing opportunities in the early going, but couldn’t find Kershaw’s offerings to their liking. The Giants haven’t been destitute with the bats in opening the season with a 4-6 record but they’ll need to be more timely with their offense in what figures to be another season of torturous ball games. Before the game, both teams gathered at the pitching mound where Jeremy Affeldt for the Giants and Jamey Carroll for the Dodgers addressed the crowd in a plea for safety and compassion between the rival fan bases. Affeld encouraged fans of both teams to root enthusiastically, without letting the anomosity result in confrontations. The sellout crowd cheered as images of Stow flashed on the center field video board. The Giants and Dodgers battle on the field again on Tuesday with Tim Lincecum facing the Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley. |
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