Torres leads Giants to late win over Dodgers

Baseball Betting Lines

07/21/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andres Torres sparked a three-run top of the ninth with a two-run double, as the San Francisco Giants rallied past the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-5, in a wild game between these NL West rivals.

Holding a 5-4 lead, Jonathan Broxton (3-2) took over on the mound for the Dodgers in the top of the ninth. He loaded the bases with one out to bring acting manager Don Mattingly to the mound for a visit. Following the visit, Mattingly took one step off the hill before turning back. San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy was all over Mattingly like a hawk and rushed out of the dugout. The umpires gathered and ruled Mattingly made two trips to the mound.

"Don thought he was still on the mound when he went back to talk to Broxton. But replays showed he was on the grass when he went back," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

That forced LA to bring a new pitcher into the game. A cold George Sherrill faced off against Torres, who laced a two-run double into the gap in left- center field. Travis Schlichting was called in from the bullpen and issued an RBI single to Buster Posey two batters later. The Dodgers eventually got out of the inning, but not before the Giants took a 7-5 lead.

The bizarre events in the ninth capped off what was a heated game. A total of three batters were hit by pitches, and many others were almost hit. That helped lead to the ejections of Torre, Los Angeles starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw, and Dodgers bench coach Bob Schaefer.

Pablo Sandoval had two RBI for the Giants, who won 5-2 in the opener of this three-game set and have claimed victory in 11 of their last 13 games.

Tim Lincecum went 4 2/3 innings in the start, allowing five runs on seven hits. Santiago Casilla (3-2) pitched two frames of scoreless relief to pick up the win. Jeremy Affeldt worked around a one-out double in the ninth to record his third save of the season.

"I didn't bring my game to the table. I found myself battling every inning," Lincecum said. "A come back win in general was good for us."

Xavier Paul went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Dodgers, who have dropped six in a row. Paul will see plenty of action in left field over the next few weeks as Manny Ramirez (right calf) was placed on the 15-day disabled list prior to Tuesday's game.

Andre Ethier hit a two-run homer, while Casey Blake and Blake DeWitt each had two hits and an RBI in defeat.

Kershaw gave four runs -- two earned -- on four hits before being ejected with no outs in the seventh. The left-hander also struck out six and walked two.

The Dodgers got to Lincecum in the first inning. Rafael Furcal walked, stole second, and scored on Paul's double. Ethier followed with a two-run homer to right for a 3-0 lead.

The Giants got a run back in the second. Juan Uribe hit a two-out double and eventually crossed the plate on Edgar Renteria's groundout.

LA plated a pair of runs in the third to go ahead 5-1. Paul singled and Ethier walked before Lincecum recorded two straight outs. DeWitt hit an RBI single in front of Blake's run-scoring double.

San Francisco finally got to Kershaw in the sixth to make things interesting. With one out, Freddy Sanchez and Posey singled to put men on the corners. Pat Burrell then hit a sacrifice fly to deep left field. Sandoval followed with a two-run double down the left-field line to cut the gap to 5-4. Uribe grounded out and Renteria flied out to end the frame.

Emotions started to boil over in the top of the seventh. Kershaw started the inning by hitting Aaron Rowand with a pitch. That led to the ejections of Kershaw and Torre. Hong-Chih Kuo took over on the hill and retired the first three batters he faced to keep LA in front.

Game Notes

Los Angeles has won five of the first eight matchups with San Francisco this season...Schaefer was ejected in the sixth inning after Dodgers catcher Russell Martin was almost hit with a pitch...Posey extended his hitting streak to 14 games...The Dodgers activated catcher Brad Ausmus from the 60-day disabled list...Adrian Johnson was the home plate umpire...Each team stranded seven.