LAD@SF: Hanley belts a go-ahead homer in the 10th
SAN FRANCISCO — Hanley Ramirez made a memorable debut to the Dodgers-Giants rivalry Friday night, launching a two-run homer in the top of the 10th inning for a 5-3 win that snapped the Dodgers’ three-game losing streak.
After a two-out walk to Andre Ethier on a close 3-2 pitch from reliever Sergio Romo, Ramirez crushed a hanging 0-1 slider into the bleachers in left-center, posing at the plate, mugging for the dugout between second and third and getting greeted like a hero when he rejoined his teammates after the trot.
Rookie Shawn Tolleson, recalled two days earlier, was credited with his first Major League win when Kenley Jansen locked down his 20th save after setup man Ronald Belisario allowed the tying runs to score in the eighth inning.
That wasted a second solid no-decision start from rookie Stephen Fife, recalled earlier in the day to fill the fifth-starter role left vacant with Nathan Eovaldi’s trade. Belisario has been scored upon in six of his last 10 outings.
Taking on All-Star starter Matt Cain, Fife allowed one run on six hits over 6 1/3 innings, had his first hit — a double — and scored his first run. He has a 1.46 ERA in two Major League starts, the other a no-decision against Cy Young winner Roy Halladay.
The Giants scored in the second inning. Brandon Belt singled and one out later Fife walked Brandon Crawford on a 3-2 pitch. Fife compounded that walk by hanging a first-pitch changeup to Cain, who laced it into center for a single to load the bases. Nate Schierholtz then sent a one-hopper Fife deflected to second baseman Mark Ellis, who flipped to Luis Cruz for the force at second, but Cruz’s relay to first was late as Belt scored.
Fife needed two fine defensive plays to keep the Giants from scoring in the fourth. Ramirez made a diving catch of Fife’s throw after Cain’s sacrifice-bunt attempt for a force at third base. Matt Kemp followed by running down Schierholtz’s drive on the warning track in center.
Not to be outdone by Cain — at least at bat — Fife battled back from an 0-2 count and helped himself with a two-out double in the fifth. He was doubled home by Jerry Hairston, who was singled home by Ellis for a 2-1 Dodgers lead. Hairston was lucky to still be in the game. The previous half-inning, he tripped over the Giants bullpen mound in left-field foul territory and fell hard chasing a Crawford foul ball.
The Dodgers added to the lead in the sixth with a leadoff double from Andre Ethier and James Loney’s one-out RBI line single.
Don Mattingly, resting reliever Josh Lindblom, managed the seventh inning as if it were the game-decider. Fife came out to face pinch-hitter Justin Christian, who shot a grounder that required a diving stop from third baseman Ramirez, who threw Christian out. Fife left after 93 pitches, and lefty Randy Choate came on to get Schierholtz on a tapper, then Jamey Wright needed one pitch to retire Ryan Theriot on a lineout to right.
That got Mattingly to Belasario for the eighth, which opened with a Melky Cabrera single. Belisario struck out Buster Posey on three sinkers, but Angel Pagan sliced a ground-rule double to put runners on second and third, and Belt’s broken-bat single tied the game.
