Although it is tempting to say the Dodgers' lineup has a gaping hole without the suspended Manny Ramirez, and although that temptation is only heightened by the fact they scored only one run in Friday night's loss to San Francisco, the evidence simply doesn't bear that out.
The Dodgers exploded for six runs in the first inning Thursday night against Washington, their first game since learning they would lose Ramirez for 50 games after he tested positive for a banned substance, and scored nine for the game. They also continued to show the relentless patience at the plate that has been such a hallmark of their early-season success. Then, against the Giants, the Dodgers ran into a vintage Barry Zito and still managed to work him for 126 pitches through six innings. They then worked the Giants bullpen for 62 pitches over the final three, including closer Brian Wilson for 27 after he was called upon to get four outs.
Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake, who went 1-for-4 with a double, saw an astonishing 38 pitches in his four plate appearances. Before flying out to right field in the fifth, he worked Zito for 11 pitches. Then, before taking a borderline called third strike from Wilson to end the eighth -- Blake actually took a couple of steps up the first-base line as plate umpire Sam Holbrook rang him up -- he worked Wilson for 13 pitches.
On the other hand, the Dodgers stranded nine runners, five of them in scoring position, and also ran themselves out of two other potential scoring opportunities when Juan Pierre was thrown out on the front end of a two-out double-steal attempt to end the third and Russell Martin got thrown out trying to take second on the throw when Matt Kemp aggressively went from first to third on Martin's single to left.
GIANTS 3, DODGERS 1: Chad Billingsley suffered his first loss of the season despite shutting out the Giants on three hits through the first five innings. Ultimately, he was done in by a series of well-placed infield hits, including one by Edgar Renteria to jumpstart a one-run rally in the sixth, one by Emmanuel Burriss to key a two-run rally in the seventh and one by Pablo Sandoval to drive in the final Giants run in the seventh.
