Dodgers Beaten By Pagan, Ritual

The Dodgers were shut down on offense for the second straight night, while Angel Pagan and the Giants cruised to a 4-1 win on Tuesday before a vociferous full house at Dodger Stadium.

Pagan, who had two hits and scored two runs in Monday's win, continued to do damage from the top of the San Francisco lineup on Tuesday with three more hits. He singled and scored in the first, one of two runs off Joe Blanton in the opening frame.

Pagan then doubled in the fourth inning to score Brandon Crawford for a 4-0 Giants lead. For good measure, Pagan even threw out A.J. Ellis at home plate in the sixth inning from center field. That out at the plate kept the Dodgers off the scoreboard for the moment despite a walk and three singles to open the inning.

That was the first true rally against Tim Lincecum, who didn't allow a runner to reach base until the fourth inning. The Dodgers had the bases loaded in that sixth inning with one out for Matt Kemp, who represented the tying run. Kemp, mired in an 0-for-21 slump at the time, drive a ball deep to right field, but despite the pleas of a sellout crowd the ball landed in the glove of Hunter Pence on the warning track.

A run scored on the play and ended the night for Lincecum, who left two runners on base. But southpaw Jose Mijares, acquired off waivers from Kansas City on August 6, was brought in to face Andre Ethier with two outs.

The story had a predictable outcome, as Ethier struck out to end the inning.

Kemp snapped his 0-for-21 skid with a one-out single in the ninth inning, but then Ethier grounded into a game-ending double play against lefty Javier Lopez..

Ethier has just 12 hits in 92 at-bats against left-handed pitchers since June 1, hitting .130/.192/.174 against them during that span. On the season Ethier is hitting .213/.278/.311 against southpaws, and in his career against them he has hit .237/.298/.350, in 1,051 plate appearances.

Ethier against lefties hasn't had a batting average higher than .233, an on-base percentage higher than .292, nor a slugging percentage higher than .345 since 2008.

But Ethier wasn't alone in his struggles on Tuesday, as the Dodgers mustered just one run for the second straight night, on six hits.

Blanton was mediocre, allowing 10 hits and four runs in his 5 2/3 innings, and in four starts as a Dodger has allowed 18 runs on 28 hits in 21 innings. In addition, the man who came to town with the lowest walk rate in the majors has walked nine with the Dodgers, a figure it took him 11 starts to reach with the Phillies.

With the loss, the Dodgers moved a game and a half behind the Giants in the National League West.

Tonight's Particulars

Home Runs: none

WP - Tim Lincecum (7-13): 5 2/3 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

LP - Joe Blanton (8-12): 5 2/3 IP, 10 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts

Sv - Javier Lopez (3): 1 batter, 2 outs