Saturday, Jul. 05, 2008

Dodgers make themselves at home in SF, beat Giants

They take advantage of Giants' bullpen in series opener

SAN FRANCISCO -- As the San Francisco Giants try to re-establish some semblance of a home-field advantage at AT&T Park, they might want to start by pulling the welcome mat away from their arch-nemesis.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have made themselves comfortable in San Francisco, winning seven of nine here in each of the previous two years. In their first visit of the season Friday night, they put their spikes on the sofa cushions and rattled extra-base hits around the park like they were the ones signing the debt service checks.

Fred Lewis dropped a fly ball for an error, opening the door for a five-run sixth against rookie Osiris Matos, and the Dodgers rallied against a short-staffed bullpen for a 10-7 win.

Afterward, Giants manager Bruce Bochy publicly second-guessed the way he left Matos, a pitcher making his second career appearance, to wither on the mound as Andre Ethier, Russell Martin and Jeff Kent smacked consecutive doubles to put the Dodgers ahead.

"I just felt Matos was throwing well," Bochy said. "Obviously, it didn't work out. They hadn't hit the ball hard off him. It helps when guys are a little fresher and it caught up with us today, no question. Sure, you look back and wish you would've done something different there. Believe me, it's a game I look at."

Tyler Walker (strained right quadriceps) and Keiichi Yabu (tight shoulder) both said they could have pitched, though Bochy has a conservative reputation with handling relievers. Although that strategy often benefits the club in the longer term, it didn't work to please a sellout crowd of 40,447 that had a taste for blue blood.

It also didn't explain why Bochy warmed up left-hander Alex Hinshaw but didn't bring him in to face the left-handed-hitting Ethier. After Ethier's two-run double turned a one-run deficit into a one-run lead, the Dodgers sent four right-handed hitters to the plate -- and Bochy didn't have another right-hander warming up to replace Matos.

Closer Brian Wilson was forced to pitch a mop-up inning in the ninth, surrendering a solo home run to Andy LaRoche.

The Giants, who at 16-27 have the worst home record in the majors, missed a chance to win consecutive games at AT&T Park for the first time since June 1-2.

The game had a similar feel to the loss in Kansas City on June 22, when a high pitch count forced the Giants' starter to exit after five innings and the bullpen couldn't patch through the sixth and seventh.

This time the starter was Jonathan Sanchez, who issued three walks in the third inning, including two with the bases loaded. Sanchez departed with a 5-3 lead after throwing 110 pitches in five innings.

"I was missing my spots," Sanchez said. "I was dropping my arm a little bit so my fastballs were up. Sometimes that's going to happen. We're not going to be perfect every game."