The Dodgers dropped their first game to the Giants, 7-6, despite coming back from a 7-0 deficit to make it a one-run game by the sixth.
The Dodgers took the bats in the fifth inning being down seven runs, but they rallied for 5 in that inning to make it a game again. Mark Sweeney pitched in with a two-RBI pinch-hit single. Casey Blake was also 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored before he (and Torre) were ejected in the eighth after arguing his called check swing. Andre Ethier started over Andruw Jones and went 1 for 3 with an RBI. Jones did come in late in the game though and actually hit an RBI-single to make it a one-run game in the sixth, but that was all for the Dodgers, as they had no more hits or baserunners after the sixth. Nomar was also scratched from the lineup for a sprained knee that he suffered while tagging a Nationals’ baserunner at third in Sunday’s game. Angel Berroa went 1 for 4 with a run and an RBI in place of Nomar, and Berroa may have to continue to be Nomar’s replacement.
Kuroda was again ineffective, giving up seven runs on nine hits, both career-high numbers, while failing to escape the fourth inning. He gave up two in the third and allowed the Giants to rally for five runs in the fourth after having men on the corners with one out. Ramon Troncoso came in to escape the inning, and him, Falkenborg, Wade, and Kuo all combined to finish the game and keep the Giants scoreless with a combined 7 K’s. Kuroda falls to 5-8 and is now 0-2 with a 13.11 ERA since the All-Star break.
Jason Johnson will make his Dodger debut as a starter. Johnson has not made a start since August 2006 with the Red Sox after spending last season in Japan. Johnson is a right-handed veteran with a 55-98 record in 214 career starts. He will face Matt Cain, who is 6-8 with a 3.82 ERA. Cain is 0-4 lifetime against the Dodgers, but is coming off a four-hit shutout of the Nationals in his last start.
