Dodgers’ lefty dominant, Giants’ miscues untimely
Andrew Baggarly – McClatchy News
LOS ANGELES – Nobody said it would be easy. Nobody thought it would be easy, either.
The San Francisco Giants began their first title defense in 56 years with a 2-1 loss to the archrival Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night, overwhelmed by Clayton Kershaw, who proved untouchable in the afternoon shadows at Chavez Ravine.
Kershaw is one of the game’s great emerging aces, so the Giants’ night of frustration wasn’t a great surprise.
But the game’s most pivotal scoring on a Buster Posey error? Now that’s a new twist.
The golden-boy catcher and reigning NL Rookie of the Year blocked a ball in the dirt and tried to catch Matt Kemp napping in the sixth inning, but his throw to third base got past Pablo Sandoval and rattled into foul territory. Kemp scored an unearned run – the only one that Tim Lincecum allowed in his seven innings – but it sent the defending World Series champs to their first opening-day defeat since they were shut out here in 2008.
Shortstop Miguel Tejada botched a potential double-play grounder to set up the bases-loaded situation in the sixth. The Giants’ defense was a concern most of the spring, and it did them in against their archrivals.
Pat Burrell hit a solo home run off Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton in the ninth, but the Dodgers had added to their lead in the eighth with James Loney’s run-scoring double off Santiago Casilla.
Lincecum allowed five hits, walked three and hit a batter in his seven innings.
Kershaw was superior, striking out nine while holding the Giants to four singles and a walk in seven innings. He was almost untouchable when the early innings became a game of shadows in the afternoon light; he struck out six of the first 10 hitters.
Of all the Giants’ playoff-tested hitters, it was a rookie first baseman making his big league debut who had the best at-bats against Kershaw.
Brandon Belt was credited with a single in his first career trip to the plate when he beat out a chopper down the first base line. The rookie worked a seven-pitch walk in his next plate appearance, then made Kershaw fire seven more pitches while striking out in the seventh.
Belt averaged 6.3 pitches per plate appearances against Kershaw; the rest of the Giants averaged just 3.3 pitches against the Dodgers’ left-handed ace.
Belt was the only Giant to reach scoring position against Kershaw, when he moved up on Pablo Sandoval’s looping single in the fifth. But Lincecum bunted into a forceout at second base and Andres Torres grounded into a fielder’s choice to strand runners at the corners.
The Giants might have had their best chance in the eighth against left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo, who threw four consecutive balls to pinch hitter Mark DeRosa. But Bochy elected to let Torres swing away and he missed while taking a questionable rip at a 2-0 pitch.
Torres flied out and pinch runner Nate Schierholtz never advanced. Lincecum allowed four hits in the first two innings, including one that former Giants hero Juan Uribe punched to center field in his first at-bat as a Dodger. But Uribe slid past second base while trying to stretch his single – a break that helped Lincecum escape the inning.
The Giants’ shaky defense didn’t help Lincecum in the sixth, though.
Following a one-out walk to Matt Kemp, Loney hit a grounder to shortstop and Tejada got rid of it too quickly while trying to start a double play. His sidearm sling skipped past second baseman Freddy Sanchez and into right field, putting runners at the corners.
Lincecum followed by hitting Uribe with his first pitch, and the aftermath was prickly. Uribe took his time and appeared to stare back at the mound as he walked to first base.
With the bases loaded, Posey saved a run when he blocked Lincecum’s dirt-skipping pitch to Rod Barajas. Then the reigning NL Rookie of the Year cost the Giants a run when he tried to catch Kemp napping off third base.
Posey’s throw got past Sandoval and rattled into foul territory as Kemp scored. It took a diving play by Sandoval on Barajas’ lineout – a likely two-run single against a plumper Panda a year ago – to help Lincecum escape the inning with no further damage.
