Final
Dodgers-Giants Preview
Sep 14, 2010 - 4:16 AMVideo
Los Angeles (71-73) at San Francisco (81-63), 10:15 p.m. EDT
Locked in a tight race for the NL West lead, the San Francisco Giants need Barry Zito to regain his first-half form.
The veteran looks to avoid a career-high ninth straight loss and career high-tying seventh consecutive lost start when the Giants open a three-game home series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
San Francisco (81-63) trails San Diego by one-half game for the West lead. The Giants tightened the standings by taking three of four from the Padres over the weekend to complete a 7-3 road trip.
"This thing looks like it's going to the wire," manager Bruce Bochy said after a 6-1 win Sunday. "Right now, we just have to worry about what we can control."
Bochy hopes he won't have to worry about Zito (8-12, 4.14 ERA) much longer. The left-hander went 7-4 with a 3.76 ERA prior to the All-Star break but is 1-8 with a 4.82 ERA since.
Zito lost seven starts in a row from March 31-May 5, 2008, and went 0-8 in nine games from March 31-May 17 of that year.
The 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner had not lasted more than four innings in his previous four starts, but turned in an encouraging performance Wednesday. He limited Arizona to two runs in six innings while striking out seven in a 3-1 defeat.
"I felt loose out there and let the ball go; it was a lot better," Zito told the Giants' official website.
Zito has gone 6-7 with a 4.01 ERA in 18 starts against Los Angeles. In five starts versus the Dodgers this year, he is 0-2 with a 2.84 ERA, receiving only five runs of support.
The Giants have held their last eight opponents to three runs or fewer, posting three shutouts in that span while winning six times. They are 8-7 against the Dodgers (71-73), taking two of three at Los Angeles last week after sweeping a three-game home set July 30-Aug. 1.
Clayton Kershaw (11-10, 2.99) has been one of the few bright spots on a Dodgers team that has faded to fourth in the West.
The left-hander has posted a 2.27 ERA in his last six starts and allowed three earned runs or fewer in nine of his previous 10 outings. He yielded two runs and struck out six in seven innings last Tuesday but lost his third straight decision, 2-1 to San Diego.
While manager Joe Torre has tinkered with his lineup in recent weeks, he announced his usual starters will play in the upcoming series.
"In all fairness to the teams that are competing, we line up our best guys against the teams that are in contention," Torre told MLB.com. "When you are dealing (with) where we are at and the teams that are still alive, when you are talking about San Diego, San Francisco and Colorado, I think for the good of the game you have to do that."
Matt Kemp is 17 for 41 (.415) versus Zito, while James Loney is 2 for 26 with seven strikeouts.
- Giants 0, Dodgers 1 - FINAL
LA DODGERS ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
R Furcal ss 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 .307
A Ethier rf 3 0 0 0 1 2 1 .286
C Blake 3b 4 0 0 0 0 3 0 .255
M Kemp cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 3 .251
J Gibbons 1b 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .326
J Loney 1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .278
R Baraja
Sep 15 12:33 AM - NL
AT SAN FRANCISCO - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY JUAN URIBE ALLOWED REED JOHNSON TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C BLAKE ON FIRST, A ETHIER ON SECOND, R
FURCAL ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: LA DODGERS 1
SAN FRANCISCO 0 TOP,6TH
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: M KEMP (.252, 1-FOR-2)
Dodgers 1, Giants 0 Top 6, 0 OutsSep 14 11:34 PM
Related News
- When Clayton Kershaw was Shohei Ohtani for a day Dec 26
- 2023 review: Andre Jackson Dec 25
- Notes: Shohei Ohtani, Joe Kelly, Walker Buehler, Manuel Margot Dec 25
- Monday BP: Merry Christmas Dec 25
- 2023 review: Yonny Hernández Dec 24
- The ‘help, everything is awful the Dodgers have ruined everything we love but hey I guess it’s the holidays maybe that will make us feel better probably not though’ mailbag Dec 23
- Dodgers will pay $19.4 million luxury tax for 2023 Dec 23
- 2023 review: Phil Bickford Dec 23
- Reactions to Yamamoto signing with Dodgers Dec 23
- Shelby Miller signs with Tigers Dec 22
- 2023 review: Justin Bruihl Dec 22
- 2024 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List No. 4 Dec 22