• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Wells outduels Zito in Dodgers' win

Sep 9, 2007 - 1:12 AM By Ryan Leong PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN FRANCISCO (Ticker) - In a battle of lefthanders, 44-year-old David Wells is proving he still has something left as he outdueled Barry Zito.

Wells pitched seven superb innings, carrying a perfect game into the sixth, as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants, 6-2, on Saturday afternoon.

Wells (7-8) was dominant, not allowing a baserunner through 5 1/3 innings. In the fifth, Daniel Ortmeier had a 3-1 count in his favor, but swung and missed on the next two pitches to keep the perfect game intact.

"I didn't have a lot of time to think a lot of time to put your game plan into perspective, just go out and do it," Wells said. "I didn't know what the lineup was going to be. No matter what it was but when you don't see Barry (Bonds), Ray (Durham), and (Bengie) Molina in the lineup you think it's your day but it's never that case. You still got to go out and pitch and everything was in just sync."

In the sixth, Kevin Frandsen hit a solid single through the left side of the infield for the Giants' first hit of the day. Frandsen would soon be erased on a fielder's choice by pinch hitter Scott McClain.

Wells previously had thrown the 14th perfect game in Major League History on May 17, 1998, a 4-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins while with the New York Yankees.

"Those things are tough, the stars have got to be aligned up right for that stuff to happen but I'm glad it didn't - I'm glad we got the win and we're all happy," Wells said.

Jonathan Broxton and Takashi Saito each pitched a scoreless inning of relief to close out the game.

Zito (9-12) has been inconsistent this season with flashes of brilliance, but overall the $126 million man has been a disappointment. Aside from the first inning, the lefthander was solid, allowing three runs on four hits in six innings while walking three and striking out five.

"You've got to tip your hat to those guys too sometimes but that's not been a situation where I've tried to put pressure on myself about the offense," Zito said. "These guys are battling and coming off a great win last night but unfortunately we couldn't keep the momentum."

The Dodgers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Juan Pierre reached base on an infield single, Matt Kemp walked and Luis Gonzalez hammered a 3-1 pitch to the right-center field bleachers off Zito for his 13th home run of the season.

"He just didn't have a good curveball so I was just sitting dead-red. I got a fastball down in a lefthanders happy zone so I was just able to elevate it," said Gonzalez who is 7-for-15 with two home runs in his career vs. Zito.

Rajai Davis followed with an infield single to short. Dodger third baseman Shea Hillenbrand thought he could throw out McClain at second instead of taking the sure out at first. The throw hit McClain in the legs and caromed into left field allowing McClain to score and Davis advanced to second.

Nate Schierholtz hit an RBI triple to deep right bringing home Davis. Randy Winn grounded to short, but the throw from Rafael Furcal was in the dirt and only an acrobatic play from first baseman James Loney prevented the Giants from scoring the tying run.

The Giants wasted a golden opportunity in the seventh, when Pedro Feliz led off the frame with double off the left-center field wall. He advanced to third but Ortmeier struck out looking and Rodriguez grounded to second stranding Feliz.

The Dodgers put the game away in the ninth inning with three runs. Consecutive run-scoring singles by Tony Abreu and Loney accounted for the first two runs, and a sacrifice squeeze by Rafael Furcal scored Abreu for the third run of the frame.

A highlight of the game was in the bottom of the eighth when Barry Bonds appeared as a pinch hitter. In a classic duel against Wells, Bonds struck out swinging after a six-pitch at-bat.