honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, September 20, 2009

MLB: Dodgers beat Lincecum, Giants 6-2


Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Andre Ethier hit a go-ahead two-run homer off Tim Lincecum, Ronnie Belliard added a two-run single against the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 6-2 today to go 30 games over .500 for the first time in almost 24 years.

Randy Wolf (11-6) shrugged off a pair of home runs by leadoff hitter Andres Torres, allowing five hits in six-plus innings with three strikeouts and two walks.

The Dodgers, trying to win consecutive NL West titles for the first time since 1977-78, reduced their magic number to eight for clinching the division and five for securing a postseason berth for the third time in four years. Los Angeles is five games ahead of Colorado in the division race with 12 to play.

The Giants fell 4½ games behind the Rockies in the NL wild-card race. Colorado beat Arizona 5-1 on Sunday.

The Dodgers, who lead the NL with a 91-60 record, reached the 90-victory mark for the first time since winning a division title in 2004 with a 93-69 record under Jim Tracy — who now manages the Rockies. It is skipper Joe Torre's 12th season with 90 or more wins, the others all coming with the Yankees during a 12-year span.

Lincecum (14-6) gave up five runs, four hits and four walks over four-plus innings and struck out three. The right-hander is 0-4 with a 5.90 ERA in his last five road starts since beating St. Louis 10-0 on June 29 with a two-hitter. It was his shortest outing since opening day, when he struggled through three innings against Milwaukee on April 7.

NL pitchers coming off Cy Young Award seasons were 10-0 with four no-decisions against the Dodgers since Sept. 9, 2003, when Edwin Jackson beat Randy Johnson at Arizona in his major league debut. No reigning Cy Young winner in either league had been charged with a loss at Dodger Stadium since way back on June 5, 1993, when Kevin Gross beat Greg Maddux and the Atlanta Braves 5-1.

Wolf is 6-0 with a 2.41 over his last eight starts. When he retired Freddy Sanchez to end the third, the left-hander reached the 200-inning mark for the fourth time in his 11-year career and first time since 2003 with Philadelphia.

Ethier put the Dodgers ahead 2-1 in the third, driving a 3-2 pitch to right-center with two out for his 31st homer after a one-out walk to Wolf. The RBIs raised Ethier's total to 101, making him the first Dodger with at least 100 in a season since J.D. Drew in 2006.

Belliard made it 4-1 in the fourth with his two-run opposite-field single inside first base. Rafael Furcal scored the Dodgers' fifth and sixth runs on wild pitches, both with Matt Kemp at the plate.

Torres drove a 1-2 pitch into the pavilion seats in left-center for his first career leadoff homer and the fifth this season by the Giants. The Dodgers' staff had not allowed a leadoff home run in the first inning all season until Friday night's series opener, when Eugenio Velez victimized Vicente Padilla in the Giants' 8-4 victory.