Giants Stir, L.A. Shaken

For 26 innings, the San Francisco Giants slumbered. For 26 innings, they were meek pawns, helpless victims and unwillingly punching bags for a Dodger team that could do no wrong.

Then, two outs from the Dodgers’ ninth consecutive victory, two outs from seeing their National League West lead shrink to three games, the Giants woke up, stretched their muscles and rallied for three homers and seven runs in the ninth inning to take an 8-5 victory, extending their division lead over the second-place Dodgers to five games.

After beating the Giants in the first two games of this series by a combined score of 17-2, after clinging to an early lead Saturday on Mike Piazza’s two-run homer in the first inning, the Dodgers survived on clutch pitching, tight defense and a questionable call until the Giant ninth.

It started innocently enough.

With a sellout crowd of 53,792 cheering them on, the Dodgers put the ball in the hands of their closer, Todd Worrell, who promptly got J.T. Snow on a called third strike.

Then, the Giants stirred.

Third baseman Mark Lewis hit his seventh homer of the year over the wall in left-center at the 395-foot mark to tie it. Catcher Rick Wilkins followed with his fifth homer over the wall in dead center to give San Francisco the lead.

And the Giants were only warming up.

Pinch-hitter Damon Berryhill got aboard on an error by second baseman Tripp Cromer. Singles by Darryl Hamilton and Jose Vizcaino loaded the bases.

Then Stan Javier singled to center, driving in two, with the third run coming across when the ball got past Roger Cedeno.

The ugly got uglier when the next batter, Barry Bonds, was hit by Antonio Osuna, on in relief of Worrell (1-2), who took the loss. Bonds made threatening gestures toward Osuna, and both benches emptied, but no punches were thrown.

Probably, more than anything else, it was simply a case of the Giants expelling some of the anger they felt over the two crushing losses and a controversial call that had gone against them earlier in the game.

Giant second baseman Jeff Kent finished the scoring with a two-run home run, his 20th.

Todd Hollandsworth made it closer in the ninth by hitting a three-run shot against Rod Beck for his third home run. But Cedeno grounded out to end the game.

Starting pitcher Mark Gardner best expressed the importance of the Giants’ revival.

“It would have been a very disappointing loss,” he said, “but the way we came back in the ninth says something. [Today] we can walk out of here the way we came in.”

The Dodgers began the night with the home-run ball.

When Piazza connected on a Gardner pitch in the first inning, the ball disappearing deep into the right-field stands for his 18th homer, it appeared as if the surging Dodgers were taking aim at another big night.

Instead, Piazza’s blast was the last noise they would make until Hollandsworth’s homer in the ninth.

The Giants kept flailing away at Dodger starter Tom Candiotti’s knuckleball. Finally, in the sixth, they got some results. After Vizcaino walked, up came Glenallen Hill. Hill was taking Javier’s spot in the lineup because Hill was hitting .416 lifetime against Candiotti, Javier only .222. Hill reinforced the decision with a single to set up the Giants’ first run.

That came across on a bouncer to third by Kent.

Then came the controversial San Francisco seventh.

Dodger reliever Scott Radinsky was on the mound, having come in after Candiotti gave up back-to-back singles to Lewis and Wilkins. Pinch-hitter Marvin Benard lofted a foul popup just to the right of the Dodger dugout. Third baseman Todd Zeile caught up with it, and hung on by doing a fancy two-step to avoid hitting the railing.

Lewis, crouched on the bag at third, took off for home plate and beat the throw from Zeile. But the Dodgers appealed and home plate umpire Angel Hernandez upheld the appeal.

That brought a furious Dusty Baker, the Giant manager, out of the dugout to have his say. When he was done, he swung his arm around as he walked off as if to say he’d had enough of Hernandez’ explanation.

Although a television replay did not show where Lewis’ foot was when Zeile made the catch, it clearly showed that his body did not begin to move forward until the ball was in Zeile’s glove.

He might not have felt so at the time, but after the game, Wilkins was thankful for the controversial play.

“We were disappointed with that call,” he said. “That play motivated the guys. And it turned out to be a good thing, maybe a blessing in disguise.”