Giants Finally Flip Their Own Power Switch

While the Dodgers’ power surge of the previous two games was short-circuiting Sunday night, the San Francisco Giants were busy building their own power grid in the finale of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium.

The result was an 8-3 Giant victory in front of 37,549 in which San Francisco hit three home runs and the Dodgers, who hit five in each of their previous two wins, hit one.

Mark Grudzielanek homered for a career-best fourth consecutive game but it wasn’t enough to overcome an erratic outing by Dodger starter Eric Gagne, who felt the shock of the Giant bats.

Gagne (0-1) gave up six runs and eight hits, including two homers, in six innings. He struck out four and walked one while throwing 111 pitches, 70 strikes.

“He couldn’t get his breaking ball over the plate and he got hurt by the long ball,” Dodger Manager Jim Tracy said of Gagne at the close of the club’s seven-game, season-opening homestand. “It was a matter of the inconsistency that he had for much of the time that he was out there with his breaking ball. He had to rely on his fastball and he mislocated some pitches.”

As a result, Gagne’s curveball was staying up and Giant hitters were sitting on his fastball.

“I felt good,” Gagne said. “I just made some mistakes.”

Dodger rookie Jose Nunez gave up a two-run home run, the third homer he’s allowed in three appearances, Terry Adams threw a perfect eighth inning and closer Jeff Shaw pitched a scoreless ninth.

Giant left-hander Kirk Rueter (1-0) earned the win, giving up three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. Rueter, throwing on three-days’ rest for the first time in his nine-year career, had one strikeout and no walks.

“Once you get out there,” Rueter said, “the adrenaline gets running and three days’ rest has nothing to do with it.”

Giant Manager Dusty Baker agreed.

“Kirk was dealing really well, minimizing his pitches,” Baker said. “We got timely hitting and we needed this victory big time.”

The Giants got no help from the middle of their lineup in the series. The top two vote-getters in last year’s National League most-valuable-player race, runner-up Barry Bonds and winner Jeff Kent, went a combined 1 for 22 (Bonds was 0 for 13) in the three games against the Dodgers.

The Giants (4-2) got to Gagne in the second inning.

After Armando Rios led off with single, Russ Davis stroked a 2-and-2 fastball halfway up the left-field pavilion.

The Dodgers (4-3) cut the deficit with Grudzielanek’s two-out solo homer, his team-leading fifth of the season. He took a 1-and-0 Rueter offering the other way, just over the wall in right-center field.

The last Dodger to hit a home run in four consecutive games was Gary Sheffield, who did it last year at Houston (June 20-22) and St. Louis (June 23) on his way to a franchise record-tying 43 homers.

San Francisco padded its lead, though, in the fourth inning with another two-run homer against Gagne.

No. 8 hitter Benito Santiago deposited a first-pitch fastball into the right-field pavilion.

“That was really a mistake, giving that one up with the pitcher on deck,” Gagne said. “I should have just pitched around him and got the pitcher.”

The Giants added two more in the sixth when Davis’ one-out double off Sheffield’s glove in left field scored J.T. Snow and Rios.

With Gagne gone, San Francisco increased its lead to seven runs in the seventh when Rich Aurilia hammered a 1-and-0 Nunez pitch for a two-run homer.

The Dodgers scored twice in the seventh.

Shawn Green singled and went to second on Bonds’ fielding error before scoring on Phil Hiatt’s single, which prompted Baker to replace Rueter with Alan Embree. Hiatt came home on pinch-hitter Hiram Bocachica’s double into the right-field corner.

Despite his inconsistent outing, Gagne is supported by Tracy as a member of the rotation.

“I’m the fifth starter right now . . . and I’m going to go out there and have some fun,” Gagne said. “I’m not going to worry about that . . . anymore.”

Said Tracy: “We don’t want Eric to go out there and, from start to start, say ‘Hey, this has got to be a good one or else I’m gone.’ He’s gone through that before. Consistency is obviously something that’s very important at the major league level and at some point he’s going to get it going.”