Giants’ Matt Cain can’t get it done against Dodgers
As far as mysteries in baseball go, this one ranks up there with how Bob Uecker was able to hit Sandy Koufax.
Why can’t Matt Cain beat the Dodgers?
Cain was an All-Star last year. He woke up Tuesday with an earned-run average of 2.72.
But as the pitcher of record in the Giants’ 4-2 loss at AT&T Park, his career record against the Dodgers fell to 0-8.
The Dodgers made Cain throw 105 pitches in only five innings, pounding him for four runs and seven hits. They drew three walks.
James Loney was the first to get to Cain, hitting a two-out single in the first inning to drive in Andre Ethier and put the Dodgers ahead, 1-0. ( Manny Ramirez was injured on the play, as he overran second base and clumsily slid back to the bag.)
The Giants tied the score in the bottom half of the inning when Andres Torres scored on a sacrifice fly by Pat Burrell, but the Dodgers rallied for three runs in the fifth inning, which began with consecutive singles by Rafael Furcal and Russell Martin.
Furcal and Martin scored on a single by Loney, who scored on a single by Casey Blake.
The Dodgers led, 4-1, at that point.
With Jonathan Broxton and Hong-Chih Kuo unavailable and the bullpen short on arms, the Dodgers got a lengthy start from rookie John Ely, who ate up seven innings and held the Giants to a run.
The seven-inning start was the second in a row for Ely, who appears to be over the rough three-outing stretch in which he was charged with 15 runs in 142/3 innings.
Still, Manager Joe Torre couldn’t avoid using Ronald Belisario, who pitched for the third consecutive day. Belisario recorded the final out.
Padilla to face Giants
The last time Vicente Padilla faced the Giants, a pitch he threw inside fractured Aaron Rowand’s cheekbone.
Padilla said he hasn’t spoken to Rowand since the April 16 incident at Dodger Stadium, but said he doesn’t think it will be an issue when he takes the mound Wednesday for the series finale in San Francisco.
“I apologize to him for what happened,” Padilla said. “I thank God he’s been able to resume playing ball. I hope that doesn’t happen again, to him, to me, or to anyone.”
Padilla had his best start of the season in a losing effort in his most recent start, holding the New York Yankees to two runs over seven innings.
“You have to give your all against the Yankees,” Padilla said. “They will punish you for any mistake you make. You get inspired when you face a team like that. You get a lift from the crowd, too.”
When facing the Giants on Wednesday, Padilla said, “I have to come out the same way, approach them the same way.”
Ethier stays in running
Andre Ethier remained in third place among National League outfielders in the latest round of All-Star balloting. With 2,113,048 votes, Ethier is nearly 500,000 votes ahead of Philadelphia’s Jayson Werth in the race for the final spot.
Online voting runs until 8:59 p.m. on Thursday. The All-Star teams will be announced on TBS on Sunday at 9 a.m.
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