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Vogelsong shows All-Star form against Dodgers

Jul 19, 2011 - 6:19 AM San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Ryan Vogelsong may not be a household name, but he's quickly becoming another reliable starter in San Francisco's vaunted rotation.

Vogelsong (7-1), a controversial All-Star selection this year by Bruce Bochy, continued silencing doubters with 6 2/3 innings of seven-hit ball in the Giants' 5-0 victory over the rival Dodgers.

The unpredictable offense provided support with 10 hits, three coming from Pablo Sandoval, whose solo home run in the fourth inning proved to be enough in the Giants' sixth win in seven games.

"It just looks like we're seeing the ball better right now," Bochy said. "It's all over baseball, guys are struggling. This would be important if we get it going."

Chad Billingsley (8-8) was knocked out in the sixth inning as LA finds itself a nearly insurmountable 13 1/2 games behind the division leaders.

Vogelsong, who turns 34 on Friday, has played a large part in San Francisco sitting atop the NL West, giving up three earned runs or less in all but one of his 15 outings.

His unlikely success led Bochy to tab the spring training non-roster invitee to the Mid-Summer Classic, and though the right-hander did not appear in Tuesday's game, displayed All-Star stuff in his first game after the break.

"It's important for me to prove [Bochy] right," said Vogelsong, who lowered his earned run average to 2.02. "They can say whatever they want to say, but he stuck his neck out for me to pick me. So I want to show people that he made a good decision and want to prove him right."

Vogelsong, who had not pitched in the majors since 2006 before this year, showed cracks in his storybook turnaround with 13 walks in his previous three starts, but only gave one free pass in the opener of this three-game series.

Working on nine days rest, Vogelsong set down the first eight batters he faced in quick order before his counterpart stepped to the plate for the first time. A pair of close two-strike pitches were called off the plate, and Vogelsong was visibly upset with home plate umpire Fieldin Culbreth as Billingsley strolled to first with a walk.

Miguel Tejada committed an error on the next play and suffered an abdominal injury in the process to put two runners on, but Vogelsong struck out the red- hot Aaron Miles to end the threat.

The Dodgers threatened again with runners on the corners in the fourth, but Vogelsong got James Loney to bounce back to the mound, and Brandon Crawford -- Tejada's replacement -- made a snap throw from second to first to complete the inning-ending double play.

On the first pitch of the next half-inning, Sandoval launched a towering shot over the right-field wall for his ninth home run of the season -- the only run the Giants ended up needing.

"We had a good chance to take the lead ... It was kind of the momentum switch. We don't get that run...and then Pablo leads off with a homer. So they're up one instead of us being up one," Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.

The Dodgers hit themselves out of another scoring opportunity when Matt Kemp grounded into a double play in the sixth, and the Giants seized the momentum by scoring four runs in the bottom half.

Mike Fontenot and Sandoval each singled to start the frame, and Nate Schierholtz punched one up the middle to make it 2-0. Cody Ross found the gap in right-center to bring in a pair, then scored on Crawford's base hit to end Billingsley's outing.

Jeremy Affeldt relieved Vogelsong after Jamey Carroll's pinch-hit, ground-rule double put two in scoring position in the seventh inning. A walk loaded the bases, but Miles grounded out to third to keep LA scoreless.

Affeldt and Ramon Ramirez combined for a perfect eighth, and Ramirez set down the side in order in the ninth, sending the Dodgers to their third straight loss.

Game Notes

The Giants are scheduled to travel to the White House next Monday to be honored for last year's World Series title...Vogelsong entered with a career 5.96 earned-run average against the Dodgers...This was the 10th time the Dodgers were blanked this year, and the eighth time the Giants pitched a shutout...The Dodgers bullpen has not allowed an earned run over the last eight games (17 innings)...The Giants have won five straight over the Dodgers, including a two-game sweep in Los Angeles on May 18-19...Billingsley was charged with five runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings...Giants catcher Chris Stewart left the game early with a contusion on his head.