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Young's RBI infield single helps Dodgers down Giants

Apr 2, 2008 - 8:13 AM By Jonathan Raber PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- There were no guarantees that Delwyn Young would even make the Los Angeles Dodgers' Opening Day roster given his poor spring. The decision to keep the rookie outfielder around has already paid dividends.

Young drove home the winning run with a pinch-hit infield single in the bottom of ninth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers came from behind to defeat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2, on Tuesday.

Young, who batted just .179 during the exhibition season, was one of the last players to be kept on the roster, primarily because the 25-year-old was out of options and could not be demoted without having to clear waivers first.

"It's exciting, completely exciting to come up with a game-winning hit like that," said Young of his first career walk-off hit.

The feat not only was timely, but impressive considering that Young had undergone a root canal earlier in the day.

"The night turned out better than the day," Young joked.

Rafael Furcal, who scored on Young's hit, finished with two hits and two RBI for the Dodgers, who improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2000.

Takashi Saito (1-0) picked up the win after striking out the side in the ninth.

After Furcal singled off Keiichi Yabu (0-1) with one out in the ninth and Russell Martin walked, Young hit a sharp grounder that handcuffed Giants second baseman Ray Durham.

Durham's throw to first was too late to get Young, giving Furcal the necessary time to beat the throw home from first baseman Rich Aurilia.

"We kept battling; they kept battling," Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp said. "We've been swinging the bat well, we got our spark plug (Furcal) keeping us in the game. It was a team effort and we came out on top."

"That's a hard loss right there for all of us," Giants starter Matt Cain said. "To have a ground ball in the infield and Furcal score all the way from second - that's great hustle by him - but it's something that's hard to see."

Dodgers starter Derek Lowe got a no-decision in six-plus innings, allowing two earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts. However, he left the game with no outs and the bases loaded in the top of the seventh after being struck on the left leg by a line drive off the bat of the Giants' Jose Castillo.

Lowe was diagnosed with a left calf contusion and is listed day-to-day, but is expected to make his next start.

"Good enough for the first one," Lowe said. "If you look at it historically, this is like throwing a complete-game shutout the way my numbers have looked (to begin the season) the last three years. At least I'll start the year with an ERA under 10, which for me is really good."

The Giants broke open the scoreless tie when reliever Joe Beimel walked Brian Bocock following Lowe's exit to score Ray Durham. Pinch hitter Eugenio Velez followed with a RBI single for the 2-0 lead.

The Dodgers responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning when Furcal delivered a two-run single with no outs, scoring rookies Blake DeWitt and Chin-lung Hu.

Cain took a no-decision after going 5 2/3 innings, surrendering no runs on three hits with five strikeouts and four walks.

The Giants managed 10 hits - all singles - and are still looking for their first extra-base hit of the season. They had five singles in their 5-0 Opening Day loss to the Dodgers.

Dodgers third-base coach Larry Bowa was ejected with two outs the sixth after a face-to-face confrontation with third base umpire Ed Montague over an dispute about Bowa being out of the coaches' box.

It was after that point which the Dodgers began to rally.

"Larry's gonna spark the club whether he's in the game or out of the game," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.