San Francisco pitcher Matt Cain has finally beaten the Dodgers, his team’s fiercest rival.
He wouldn’t have done it without a motivated Edgar Renteria, who helped Cain out in no small way with some much-needed offensive support.
Cain earned his first win against L.A. after eight losses and Renteria smacked a two-RBI sixth-inning triple as the Giants swept the Dodgers with a 2-0 win in San Francisco on Sunday.
The Giants’ (61-45) big
right-hander pitched 7 2-3 innings, allowing four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.Renteria gave Cain (9-8) all the offense he would need in the sixth, breaking up a scoreless tie. With two out and Pat Burrell on second after his double, Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw intentionally walked Aaron Rowand to bring up Renteria, who tripled to the wall in left-center to score Burrell and Rowand and then pumped his fist after sliding into third.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles’ offensive woes continued. The Dodgers, whose losing streak stretched to five games, are averaging just over two runs a game since the All-Star break and were held to two runs or less for the sixth time in seven games.
The Dodgers (54-51) had multiple baserunners in the same inning just once, in the fourth inning. Recent acquisition Scott Podsednik reached on an infield single, stole second and advanced to third before James Loney walked with two out. Cain responded by inducing a fielder’s choice from Matt Kemp to end the inning.
Closer Brian Wilson notched his 31st save of the season, retiring Kemp on a flyout to a running Rowand in the right-center gap for the final out.
Kershaw (10-6), making his first start after serving a five-game suspension for hitting Rowand with a pitch July 20, allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings, with six strikeouts and four walks.
NOTES: The Giants are 21-6 since July 6. They’ve won five of six against the Dodgers and swept L.A. at home for the first time since a four-game series June 21-24, 2004. … San Francisco’s Javier Lopez and the Dodgers’ Octavio Dotel, teammates in the Pittsburgh bullpen on Saturday, made their debuts for their respective new clubs after trade-deadline deals one day ago. … Los Angeles’ Ryan Theriot, acquired from the Cubs on Saturday, made his first appearance as a Dodger, going 0-for-4 at second base. … L.A.’s Andre Ethier missed his second straight game after the birth of his child. … The Giants stay in second place in the NL West, 1.5 games behind first-place San Diego. The Dodgers are eight games out in fourth place. … San Francisco is off Monday, then travels to Colorado for a two-game set, with Jonathan Sanchez scheduled to pitch Tuesday night. The Dodgers head home to host the Padres in a four-game series. Hiroki Kuroda will throw Monday night.
BOX SCORE
Photo above: San Francisco's Matt Cain pitches Sunday. (Ben Margot/AP)
Video credit – ESPN
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