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Giants deflated by double plays and the Dodgers
By Morris Phillips June 28, 2010 |
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The Giants’ late June swoon continued Monday in a 4-2 loss to the Dodgers as the team’s current nemesis—the double play—reared its ugly head once again. In a 2-2 ballgame in the seventh, the Giants mounted a rally with runners at first and third and no out. But when Edgar Renteria flew out to shallow right field, Aaron Rowand bluffed off third to draw a throw home from the Dodger’s Andre Ethier, but trail runner Pablo Sandoval, reacting to Rowand’s bluff, took off for second and was thrown out easily when the Dodgers cut off the throw home. The gaffe resulted in the fifth double play of the night, a category the Giants as a team and Sandoval individually lead the National League by a large margin. The Dodgers battled early and often at the plate, and starter Barry Zito’s pitch count grew to the point that he was lifted after six innings and 113 pitches. The early departure allowed the Dodgers to take advantage of the San Francisco bullpen that was terrific but taxed over the weekend against Boston, but made the critical mistake on Monday. Santiago Casilla watched the Dodgers’ Casey Blake foul off four of his pitches before delivering a two-run shot into the left field bleachers for a 4-2 LA lead in the eighth. The atmosphere at the yard figured to be tense Monday, but that was merely the starting point. Things got a whole lot more tense as the Giants and Dodgers, two teams that have temporarily forgotten how to win a ballgame, battled each other as well as their own limitations. Adding exponentially to the urgency of the night: the rampaging Padres, in possession of their biggest lead in the NL West since 2006 with a 4 ½ game cushion over the Giants and five games over the Dodgers. The Dodgers, losers of 11 of their last 15 games, including Sunday night’s collapse against the Yankees, have been crushed between their mounting injuries and superior opponents. Their rotation, with John Ely and Charlie Haeger getting starts, has looked like an organizational tryout camp, and sluggers Manny Ramirez and Andre Ethier--since coming off the disabled list earlier this month—have been ordinary. Lately, the Giants can’t get a quality outing from their previously stellar starting pitchers, and that’s just the jump off point. A slumping offense and the team’s continued inability to come through with men on base have the season at a pre-All Star Break low point. The Giants have dropped their last three series and there are no more Orioles or Astros on the horizon. The Giants desperately attempt to avoid a fourth consecutive series loss on Tuesday as Matt Cain, 0-7 in his career against the Dodgers, looks to right the ship. The Dodgers will counter with John Ely, who has lost his last three starts. |
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