San Jose Mercury News
Eugenio Velez punched the light board on the left-field fence. Sergio Romo snapped a new ball into his glove. The Giants dugout sank as Manny Ramirez rounded the bases, his dreadlocks bobbing along, after hitting the two-run home run that powered the Dodgers to a 2-1 victory Sunday afternoon.
With one swing, Barry Zito's exceptional outing was lost. So was the game. The series, too.
Romo made a mistake to the wrong pinch hitter in the eighth inning — a 1-2 slider over the heart of the plate that was as lethal as a viper bite.
The team bus to San Diego usually shows a movie. A good choice for Sunday evening's ride would've been "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
"I'm not going to reflect on this one at all," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "I'm going to move on."
Romo's laconic analysis: "Slider. (Ramirez is) one of the best for a reason. Short memory."
There wasn't any reason to dwell or to second-guess. Not Romo for throwing his best pitch with two strikes. Not Bochy for bringing in his top right-handed setup man rather than tab closer Brian Wilson for a five-out save.
The stats supported the manager. Right-handed hitters were 1-for-12 with five strikeouts against Romo this season. And he'd been close to unhittable against the Dodgers in nine career appearances, holding them to three hits and no walks while striking out 13 in 111/3 scoreless innings.
So when Zito issued a one-out walk to pinch hitter Garret Anderson, Bochy didn't hesitate to hand the ball to Romo, his fearless little Frisbee thrower. "Romo has been throwing as well as anybody," Bochy said. "He's one of our setup guys. I like him out there. He made some great pitches. He just caught too much of the plate. "He and (Jeremy) Affeldt, that's their role. I have no problems bringing those guys in." Romo painted a pitch on the inside corner to jump ahead 1-2. Catcher Bengie Molina wanted the next pitch to start out on the outer half and sweep away from Ramirez's swing. "We wanted to let him reach," Molina said. "He didn't have to reach for that one." "It didn't break," Romo said. "He was looking for it, obviously. His weight wasn't ahead of him or behind him. He was right on it. With that caliber a hitter, you don't expect to get away with it." It was Ramirez's 548th career home run, and it sent a crowd of 50,433 into elation. Ramirez, who didn't start Saturday or Sunday because of a sore calf muscle, took a quick curtain call. He was even more nimble after the game, leaving the clubhouse before reporters were allowed inside. In two previous encounters with Romo, Ramirez struck out both times. "I throw strikes," Romo said. "That's one of the biggest things I feel I bring to the table. He's one of the best, and I've gotta respect what he's done. But I'm not going to change my game. I attack hitters. I got beat today." The Giants were lined up to win the series after Juan Uribe's home run off talented young left-hander Clayton Kershaw broke a scoreless tie in the seventh. Zito shook off a line drive off his hip from Rafael Furcal to begin the game and masterfully mixed his pitches while holding the Dodgers to four singles over seven shutout innings. He was poised to go 3-0 for the first time in his 11-year career. But he pitched carefully in the eighth to Anderson, an old AL West adversary, who is a .328 hitter in 64 at-bats against him. "I'm upset with myself," Zito said. "I tried to do too much there. I threw two curveballs and left them up." Closer Jonathan Broxton mowed through three hitters in the ninth as the Dodgers took two of three. Still, the Giants already have fared better than last year's April visit to the Southland, when they went 0-6 at Dodger Stadium and San Diego's Petco Park. "We have to get out of here with our chins up," Molina said. "We know we can compete and we will compete with them."
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