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The Dodgers came out ahead in the battle of starting pitchers found off the scrap heap, beating the Giants 3-0 Saturday night at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Dana Eveland and Ryan Vogelsong were both pursued by general manager Ned Colletti last winter, and the one who said yes to the Dodgers got the win tonight.
The Dodgers are now 72-72, the first time they have been at .500 since May 2, when they were 15-15. The Dodgers are 20-8 in their last 28 games.
Eveland saw the eighth inning for the second time in as many starts for the Dodgers. Eveland didn't allow a run through seven innings, though he was removed after walking catcher Hector Sanchez to begin the eighth. Kenley Jansen relieved Eveland, and allowed a single to Mark DeRosa, but then struck out Aubrey Huff and Jeff Keppinger before inducing a threat-ending groundout by Carlos Beltran.
Eveland has allowed one run in two starts as a Dodger, and as pointed out by Joe Block of KABC's DodgerTalk, Eveland had never pitched 15 innings over any two-start stretch in his career until now.
Jansen has been amazing since returning from the disabled list on June 18. He has pitched a scoreless outing in 21 of his last 22 games, allowing a single run in 24 2/3 innings, with 10 walks and 42 strikeouts. Jansen rarely enters the game with runners on base, but during that span he has inherited four runners, including one tonight, and none of them have scored.
The Dodgers had two triples tonight, and cashed both in. James Loney hit a ball to the gap in right center field with one out in the second inning, and he scored on a broken-bat grounder by Jerry Sands. Matt Kemp led off the fourth inning with another three-bagger, and scored on Juan Rivera's smash single off first baseman Brett Pill. Rivera, who had three hits on the night, scored later in the inning on a balk by Vogelsong.
Saturday was the 16th shutout by the Dodgers this season, second only in the National League to the 20 thrown by the Phillies.
Hiroki Kuroda starts on Sunday as the Dodgers go for the series sweep, facing Madison Bumgarner for the Giants.
WP - Dana Eveland (2-0): 7+ IP, 3 hits, 2 walks, 3 striekouts
LP - Ryan Vogelsong (10-7): 8 IP, 9 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts
Sv - Javy Guerra (18): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 strikeout