Furcal's scramble sinks Giants again

Dodgers rally in 7th, win in 9th as Cain's start goes to waste

Harry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle

One point about the 2008 Giants already is clear: If they are going to peck and peck and peck their way to whatever runs they can manage, they will need to be as solid as Gibraltar in the later innings, when every pitch and decision is crucial. They just do not have the firepower to overcome their mistakes.

In the season's second game Tuesday night, the Giants needed every ounce of Matt Cain's talent and 10 singles to achieve a 2-0 lead in the seventh inning. The Dodgers needed just a moment of Brad Hennessey's time in the bottom half to get those runs back.

The Dodgers then won 3-2 in the ninth when Rafael Furcal scored from second base on a two-out infield single by Delwyn Young against Keiichi Yabu. As Ray Durham made a diving stop of Young's grounder, bobbled the ball and threw to first too late to get Young, Furcal rounded third base in a blur, kept running and beat Rich Aurilia's throw home.

Furcal's dash was not a surprise. As catcher Bengie Molina said, "I guess everyone in the stadium knew he was going home."

Or, as manager Bruce Bochy put it, "With the game on the line like that, Ray probably should have come up looking home. He made a great effort there, but he was better off throwing home, obviously."

Aurilia defended Durham, saying as deep as he was when he reached the ball, and as wet as the ball was coming off the dewy grass, the second baseman would have had little chance of sending a perfect throw home.

Either way, the Giants are 0-2 for the second year in a row under Bochy. After 18 innings, they have no extra-base hits, one blown lead and a one-run loss. They try for their first win tonight behind Tim Lincecum. Bochy said Durham and Dave Roberts will be off tonight, presumably replaced by Eugenio Velez and Fred Lewis.

For Cain, 2007 blended seamlessly into 2008, which is not good. Just as he did all of last season, he pitched his guts out and was rewarded with squat. At least he did not lose, throwing 52/3 shutout innings and getting no decision. He allowed three hits, walked four and struck out five.

The biggest noise by a Dodger while Cain was on the mound came from third-base coach Larry Bowa. With two outs in the sixth inning and two runners on, Bowa was ejected and needed to be restrained from attacking third-base umpire Ed Montague in an argument prompted by Montague telling Bowa to stay within the boundaries of the coaching box.

When play resumed after a long delay, Cain walked James Loney to load the bases. Jack Taschner relieved Cain and preserved the 0-0 game by striking out pinch-hitter Matt Kemp.

In the seventh, the Giants finally scored their first run of 2008, on of all things a bases-loaded walk to Brian Bocock by Joe Beimel after Durham, Aaron Rowand and Jose Castillo hit the team's seventh, eighth and ninth singles of the game. Castillo's hit, a shot off of Derek Lowe's left leg, knocked the starter out of the game.

After pinch-hitter Rajai Davis struck out, Velez delivered his second pinch single in two days, a flare to center that got Rowand home for a 2-0 lead. The Giants' bid for a big inning died when Aurilia, facing Ramon Troncoso - who was making his big-league debut - hit into his second double play of the night.

"I've got to drive the run in with two outs and the bases loaded," Aurilia said. "I'll take that one. That was my fault. It could have changed the game if we get that extra run."

The Dodgers needed three hitters to forge a 2-2 tie against Hennessey in the bottom half, the runs scoring on a two-run single by Furcal.

By now, Giants watchers are well versed in Cain's 2007 futility. He was 7-16 despite a 3.65 ERA. The bullpen coughed up five of Cain's leads, and the offense supported him with zero, one or two runs in 21 of his 32 starts.

On Tuesday, it was more of the same.

"It was huge of Taschner to pick me up," Cain said. "For us to turn around and score after that was awesome. It was kind of tough to see it slip away in the bottom of the inning. It was hard loss for all of us."