Giants Really Hit the Spot

Jayson Werth entered the visitors’ clubhouse at SBC Park on Wednesday afternoon not so much a savior as a welcome face.

Welcoming Werth into the fold for his season debut after he suffered a broken left wrist in the first game of spring training, the Dodgers slapped fives with him and pounded fists.

Except for Cesar Izturis.

“What’s your name?” Izturis deadpanned.

But while Werth’s was a familiar countenance, the Dodgers saw more of his back in the early going of an eventual 10-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants, the left fielder chasing in vain a pair of home runs that went over his head and into the crowd of 38,778.

The Giants pounded Dodger spot starter Wilson Alvarez (1-2), tagging him for four runs in the first inning on a pair of two-out, two-run home runs by Moises Alou and Pedro Feliz, and added two more runs in the second. Both Alou and Feliz homered twice on the night.

By the time the left-handed Alvarez was done, he had given up six runs and seven hits in three innings.

“They were good pitches; I tip my hat to those guys,” said Alvarez, who was starting in place of the injured Odalis Perez. “I threw the ball where I wanted to and they hit it. I make the pitches, but I don’t get the results. If I get another chance, I’ll try again.”

Giant starter Brett Tomko (4-6), meanwhile, was a model of consistency by comparison, the right-hander giving up two runs and five hits while striking out five and walking one in eight innings.

“His command was not what he wanted it to be,” Giant Manager Felipe Alou said of Tomko. “But he overmatched people with the great stuff he had.”

The listless Dodgers (23-22) have dropped 10 of 13 and five straight series and were caught for third place in the National League West by the Giants (23-22). The Dodgers are 11-20 since beginning the year 12-2.

Big innings by the opposition are to blame, Manager Jim Tracy said.

“When you hit home runs with people on base, the number that goes up on the scoreboard gets fairly insurmountable,” he said.

“We need to come back and try to salvage a game.”

Tracy was trying to jump-start a slumping J.D. Drew, dropping him to the No. 5 spot in the lineup.

Drew responded immediately, hitting an opposite-field solo home run to left in the second inning. It was the sixth homer of the season for Drew, who has been bothered by a sore right wrist and ended up one for four.

“It felt good on the home run and in batting practice,” Drew said. “It’s just a matter of trying to get it to calm down.”

The Dodgers’ only other run came in the third, when Izturis’ double into the left-center gap scored Antonio Perez.

Buddy Carlyle, called up from triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday and still considered a candidate to start Saturday at Arizona, went three innings and gave up three runs and four hits.

And demoted starter Scott Erickson pitched in relief, his first time coming out of the bullpen since Aug. 25, 2002.

Werth, whose wrist was broken when hit by a pitch by Florida’s A.J. Burnett on March 2, was on a 20-day rehab stint at Las Vegas when he got the call a day early to join the Dodgers. In his final game with the 51s, Werth was four for four with a home run and five runs batted in.

In his first game with the Dodgers, he was 0 for 2 with a strikeout before coming out as part of a double-switch in the fourth inning.

“The biggest thing with it was strength,” Werth said. “I hadn’t played since October. But I got some good at-bats and got in some games.

“As far as I’m concerned, the season begins today.”

Whatever it takes to stop the tailspin.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Bad starts

The Dodgers’ record in games in which they gave up two or more runs in the first inning:

*--* Date Opponent R/1st Result April 9 at Arizona 2 W 12-10 April 12 San Francisco 5 W 9-8 April 21 at San Diego 2 L 6-1 April 23 at Colorado 4 L 8-6 April 24 at Colorado 2 W 8-6 April 25 Arizona 3 L 4-2 May 16 Florida 2 L 6-2 May 25 at San Francisco 4 L 10-2

*--*

Source: mlb.com