Dodgers Bring Giants Down to Size
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2006
Los Angeles- Odalis Perez of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched seven strong innings, giving up one run and allowing only three hits to the San Francisco Giants, helping the Los Angeles Dodgers defeat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, Perez's performance impressed San Francisco Giants manager Felipe Alou, "He kept the ball down and changed speeds," Alou said.
"I don't remember maybe four or five hittable pitches that he gave us."Takashi Saito of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched a scoreless eighth, and Danys Baez of the Los Angeles Dodgers worked the ninth for his third save in as many chances, Kenny Lofton of the Los Angeles Dodgers had an RBI triple and catcher Dioner Navarro of the Los Angeles Dodgers drove in two runs.
Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk to his credit making him just 4-for-21 on the season with 10 walks, but remains homer-less on the year which could be due to an ailing elbow and two surgically repaired knees.
Steve Finley of the San Francisco Giants hit a run-scoring single in the second to give the Giants a 1-0 lead.Kenny Lofton's two-out triple off Jason Schmidt (0-2) of the San Francisco Giants in the third drove in the tying run, and the Los Angeles Dodgers scored the go-ahead run in the fourth on Navarro's RBI grounder,
Kenny Lofton of the Los Angeles Dodgers was elated to finally be in uniform for the Los Angeles Dodgers, "I'm just excited about playing," Lofton said. "Any time you've got a low-scoring game, you have to seize the opportunity when it's there. Both guys pitched well. Odalis just kept them off-balance."
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Grady Little was pleased with the effort of the bullpen which had been struggling so far, especially the peformance by Takashi Saito, "This guy's got what it takes to pitch in tight situations," Little said of Saito, a 36-year-old right-hander who pitched in Japan for 14 seasons before signing a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers during the offseason.
Pitcher Jason Schmidt of the San Francisco Giants pitched well allowing only three hits and two runs over six innings, but was done in by his control problems as he walked seven batters, If you take the walks away, they'd have no runs up there and it's a whole different ballgame," Schmidt said. "I just could not find a good rhythm.
"The Los Angeles Dodgers improved their record to 6-6 on the year and will face the San Francisco Giants in the finale of the three-game series on Sunday April 16th as Jae Seo of the Los Angeles Dodgers will pitch against Brad Hennessey of the San Francisco Giants, Saturday's attendance was 55,132, the eighth largest crowd in the history of Dodger Stadium, it was also Jackie Robinson day throughout major league baseball, the San Francisco Giants were without OF Moises Alou who has missed three consecutive games with a sore left calf muscle, but should return to action within the next few days according to his father and San Francisco Giants manager Felipe Alou.
