The Giants will be in Los Angeles tonight. You would think Ramirez's plight would be foremost in their thoughts. Maybe they, like the rest of America, have become numb to news like this. Or maybe they realize they cannot celebrate Ramirez's long, unplanned vacation until they start playing better themselves.

Ramirez said the drug in question came in a medical prescription. Later in the day a person familiar with the details of the suspension said Ramirez used the female fertility drug HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin.

"Only God knows if he's telling the truth," reliever Jeremy Affeldt said. "He's a good guy. He hasn't given me any reason to doubt he's telling the truth. Hopefully we can take advantage of it now."

As the news broke, the Dodgers had the best record in the majors at 21-8, a 13-0 home record and a 6 1/2-game lead in the National League West. The second-place Giants recognize Ramirez's suspension as a blow to the Dodgers , but not necessarily a fatal one.

Ramirez will not be in the lineup that faces Barry Zito tonight. But 5-0 Chad Billingsley still takes the ball.

"I think with the club they have, they're still the team to beat, with the depth of their lineup," manager Bruce Bochy said. "Are they as good without Manny? Taking Manny out of the lineup is going to have some effect. It's hard to say whether they're going to continue to run away with it. It's up to us and the other clubs to get back into it."

As for Ramirez getting caught, that surprised Bochy - for half a second.

"I don't get it," he said. "These players know they are getting tested and they're still getting caught. But we get a few of them who come up who test positive. It's disappointing anytime there are major-leaguers getting caught. It's not good for the game."

Players being players, most gave Ramirez the benefit of the doubt.

"In one way, I feel bad if he wasn't trying to cheat and he failed it. That would stink," Affeldt said. "In another way, I'm sure the Dodgers are not too pleased about it.

"It's a tough time for the fans and Baseball. It's a mark against us when one of the best players in Baseball, maybe the best right-handed hitter in the game, tests positive."

Is all of this good for the Giants? It would be hard to argue otherwise.

"You've got a guy who's the team leader in L.A.," Zito said. "If there was any time to capitalize, it's now."

But several teammates view Ramirez's suspension as irrelevant.

"Obviously it's going to have some impact," Randy Johnson said, but he noted the Giants took two of three from the Dodgers in San Francisco last week after being swept in Los Angeles in early April. The difference was not Ramirez, the Big Unit said, but the way the Giants played.

"We've already proven we can beat that team even with him if we play the way we are capable of playing," Johnson said.

Bengie Molina looked to tonight's series opener at Dodger Stadium and said, "I just hope we see it as another game we have to win, another game where we have to move guys over and get them in."

Molina did more than that Thursday. Facing Jason Marquis with an 0-for-12 lifetime ledger against the sinkerball pitcher, Molina hit a pair of homers, his sixth and seventh of the season, and had four RBIs. The Giants evened their record on their trip to 2-2 with three to play in a place formerly called Mannywood.