ONE GIANT STEP BEHIND DODGERS SHUT DOWN; LO DUCA GOES HITLESS SAN FRAN. 2, DODGERS 0.Byline: Rich Hammond Rich Hammond Los Angeles Daily News sports writer. Instrumental in bringing the Los Angeles Kings hockey organization closer to the fans. He is the atypical "what a guy" to Kings fans everywhere. Rich Hammond on himself. Staff Writer Four weeks of sustained excellence finished with a soft, high fly ball to left field in the eighth inning Thursday night. Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24 1964 in Riverside, California) is a left fielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds, the godson of Hall of Famer Willie Mays, and a distant cousin of Hall of Famer Reggie camped under the ball near the foul line foul line n. 1. Baseball Either of two straight lines extending from the rear of home plate to the outer edge of the playing field and indicating the area in which a fair ball can be hit. 2. and made the easy catch to end Paul Lo Duca's 25-game hitting streak In baseball, a hitting streak refers to the consecutive number of official games in which a player gets at least one base hit. Games in which a player does not have any official at bats due to walks, or sacrifice bunts, or being hit by a pitch, are ignored (neither break the streak and yet another inning of frustration for the Dodgers. Lo Duca Lo Duca is the surname of the following people:
streak, run - an unbroken series of events; "had a streak of bad luck"; "Nicklaus had a run of birdies" end along with a chance to take sole possession of first place in a 2-0 loss to the Giants in front of 51,047 at Dodger Stadium • • [ . ``From the first at-bat I knew (Schmidt) was going to be tough, because he was throwing BB's,'' said Lo Duca, who goes into the record books tied for seventh-longest streak in franchise history and tied for the second-longest in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. history, behind Willie Davis' 31-game streak in 1969. Schmidt (6-3), who has quietly become one of the National League's most effective starters, gave the Dodgers two strong scoring chances in the first three innings, then settled down and dominated. He walked two, struck out nine and lowered his ERA to 2.43, second in the National League to Kevin Brown's 1.97. ``He was unbelievable,'' said Brian Jordan, who went 1 for 4. ``In the ninth inning he was still throwing 96, 97 (mph).'' Benito Santiago hit a home run in the fourth inning and Andres Galarraga homered to lead off the seventh for the game's only runs. The Dodgers were shut out for the fifth time this season and fell one game behind the Giants. Even with Thursday's loss, this series has the potential to be a momentum builder for the Dodgers. They took two of three from the Giants and have cut a five-game deficit to one in the last 10 days. The Dodgers also earned some revenge against the Giants after losing five of the first six meetings this season. ``We had our chances,'' Dodger manager Jim Tracy said. ``We had more opportunities to score runs than the guys on the other side of the field. Solo home runs aren't supposed to beat you, but that's what happened tonight.'' The Dodgers can take solace at being defeated by a strong pitcher in Schmidt, who featured typically commanding control, and in the strong effort from their own starting pitcher, enigmatic left-hander Odalis Perez (4-5). Perez had not allowed fewer than three runs in a start since June 3, but aside from the pitches to Santiago and Galarraga, Perez showed good command of all his pitches and allowed the two runs on five hits in seven innings, walked two and struck out four. ``For me to go out and pitch a quality game, it was good for me, it's like I'm back on track,'' Perez said. ``(Santiago and Galarraga) are power hitters. If I miss, they're going to hit it out. If they get good wood on the ball, they will hit it out.'' But the Dodgers couldn't bail out Perez, even though Schmidt entered the game with a career 4.79 ERA against the Dodgers. Not that the Dodgers were without chances. With runners on first and second in the first, Shawn Green grounded into a double play and Jordan grounded out. The Dodgers also had runners on first and second with one out in the third, but Lo Duca flied out and Green struck out. ``You have to acknowledge that Jason Schmidt pitched a fantastic game,'' Tracy said. ``When you face a guy who's throwing a game like that and you have a chance to do damage early in the game, you have to take advantage of it.'' Rich Hammond, (818) 713-3611 rich.hammond(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) Dodgers pitcher Odalis Perez can't bear to watch as the Giants' Benito Santiago rounds third base after his fourth-inning home run. The Giants beat the Dodgers 2-0 to take over first place in the NL West. (2) The Dodgers' Paul Lo Duca Paul Anthony Lo Duca (born April 12, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York) is a catcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the New York Mets. Previously, Lo Duca played for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1998-2004) and Florida Marlins (2004-2005). pops up for an out in the eighth inning of L.A.'s 2-0 loss Thursday to the Giants. La Duca went hitless in four at-bats to end his hitting streak at 25 games. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer Box: STORY LINES |
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