Mercury News
The Giants were abysmal against NL West clubs before the All-Star break, losing 20 of 29 games. But as they began an important series Monday night at Dodger Stadium, there were two reasons to hope for a better outcome down the stretch.
One was Madison Bumgarner. And the other was Buster Posey.
Neither rookie looked intimidated while making his first start at Chavez Ravine, and both contributed to a tense, 5-2 victory over the Giants' archrivals.
Bumgarner (3-2) didn't overpower the Dodgers but confounded them while taking a shutout into the sixth inning. And Posey extended his hitting streak to 13 games while knocking in the Giants' first run with a single in the third inning. The young catcher scored from first base on Pablo Sandoval's double, too.
"It was fun at our place, and it's fun here," said Posey, who also showed poise while helping Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson wiggle out of bases-loaded jams in the seventh and ninth. "That's why rivalries are so great. It makes it fun for the players as well as the fans."
Could Posey look forward to being booed here as much as Barry Bonds did?
"I guess," he said, "for the right reasons."
Nate Schierholtz might as well be another new face, for as little action as he saw in the first half. He contributed the biggest swing of the night, rapping a two-run homer off right-hander James McDonald in the fourth inning.
And notably, the Giants received lifts from Sandoval and Affeldt, two first-half underachievers who simply must be better the rest of the way. Affeldt's contribution loomed especially large, getting dangerous RBI man Andre Ethier to ground out with the bases loaded and then working a scoreless eighth. "I don't know if it was the biggest pitch of the year," Affeldt said of his inside fastball that jammed Ethier. "You're just happy you beat a good hitter." With their 10th victory in 12 games, the Giants moved within four of the front-running San Diego Padres and leapt over the Colorado Rockies into second place. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are 0-5 following the All-Star break and are six games out. Bumgarner took advantage of the Dodgers' unfamiliarity with him while winning his third consecutive start. He had faced the Dodgers only once, tossing a scoreless relief inning last season. The Dodgers hit the ball progressively harder the second and third time through the lineup, but Bumgarner helped his cause along the way by picking off a runner and inducing a double-play grounder. "The focus and mentality you'd like from a pitcher, he's got it," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's good for Buster, too. Same as Madison, you like the way Buster handles himself back there. He's got a calmness in tight situations." The Giants had plenty of them. Wilson loaded the bases in the ninth before striking out nemesis Casey Blake on three pitches, including a 97 mph fastball to end it. Last year, Wilson was upset when cameras caught Blake mocking his post-save gesture, which honors his faith and his late father. But Wilson claimed he had no extra motivation as Blake stood in the box Monday. "I don't have a history with anybody," Wilson said. "Bases loaded, the bat boy could've come up, and it'd still be pretty heated." Rafael Furcal broke up Bumgarner's shutout with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the sixth, then Bumgarner gave up a single and a walk to end his night. One of Bumgarner's runners scored because of two mistakes: Guillermo Mota's errant pickoff throw and Sandoval's decision to tag a runner for the third out rather than throw for a force play.
Plate umpire Mike Everitt ruled that Jamey Carroll crossed the plate before Sandoval tagged James Loney, crediting the Dodgers with a run to make it 4-2. Replays appeared to show that Carroll hadn't scored before the tag, though.
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