|
|
|
|
|
Giants' hopes for a sweep goes up in smoke
By Jeremy Harness May 26, 2005 |
||
|
|
|||
|
SAN FRANCISCO - Speaking with reporters after his team lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-4, on Thursday, Giants manager Felipe Alou recalled that his team did rally after being down early in the game. "We battled back," he said, smiling. He then repeated the statement, but it was in a much softer, faded tone than the original. That was kind of the way the late innings went for the Giants. They came back from a three-run deficit to tie the game with three of their own in the eighth inning, energizing the crowd of 40,147 at SBC Park and seemingly grabbing the momentum. The fans' chants of "Beat L.A! Beat L.A!" got louder as the home team inched closer to a sweep of their rivals from the Southland. But then, the Dodgers got three more runs off the Giants' beleaguered bullpen in the ninth inning, a knockdown from which the Giants could not recover, despite a back-to-back doubles by Michael Tucker and Omar Vizquel off closer Eric Gagne. But all was not lost, as the Giants did take two of three from Los Angeles and will welcome the San Diego Padres into their confines starting today. Giants starter Kirk Rueter did almost everything right against the Dodgers on Thursday. He kept the big boppers in LA's lineup, particularly Milton Bradley and Cesar Izturis, from doing serious damage and, for the most part, gave the Giants a chance to sweep the Dodgers out of SBC Park. He just couldn't get Antonio Perez out. Neither could anybody else. Perez, a little-known 25-year-old who has yet to play a full season in the majors, brought home three runs, his ninth-inning single keying the three-run burst that lifted the Dodgers to victory. As little as the Giants knew about Perez going into this three-game series, Alou knew plenty. "I saw him in winter ball," Alou said. "He's a pretty good player all-around. (He) can run, (play) defense, (and he's) got power." In the second inning, Perez got things started by knocking a two-run homer off Rueter to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. Two innings later, Perez's single brought home Jeff Kent, putting the Giants in a 3-0 hole. The Giants rallied to tie the game in the eighth inning, a comeback that was kicked off by Deivi Cruz's leadoff pinch-hit home run off Dodgers starter Brad Penny. They loaded the bases off reliever Yhency Brazoban but seemed to be doomed for trouble when Omar Vizquel didn't tag up on left fielder Jayson Werth's off-line throw following a fairly-shallow fly ball. However, Edgardo Alfonzo came up big with a two-out single to right that brought home two runs and tied the game at 3-3. But then, Tyler Walker, with the help of a couple of questionable calls by home plate umpire Dan Iassogna, returned the favor and loaded the bases for the Dodgers. Ricky Ledee, who spent half of 2004 with the Giants and did virtually nothing, singled up the middle and knocked in a pair of runs to put the Dodgers back on top. "(We were) trying to get a ground ball (with Ledee)," Walker said. "We got the ground ball, and it went between my legs. "After that, everything is pretty much a moot point." |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||