Billinglsey wins in SF for first time since 2007

Published Jul. 28, 2012 5:31 p.m. ET

foxsports

The last time Chad Billingsley won a game at AT&T Park, he struck out two and didn’t allow a run. That was in 2007.

On Saturday, Billingsley took the ball for manager Don Mattingly, struck out two, and kept the Giants scoreless in 7.1 innings of shutout ball in the Dodgers' 10-0 win over the Giants on Saturday afternoon.

Billingsley is now 2-0 since returning from the disabled list on July 23rd. In those two starts, he’s given up just one earned run and walked one.

Giants’ centerfielder Angel Pagan led the bottom of the fifth inning off with a double and later advanced to third on a wild pitch by Billingsley. The Dodgers starter was able to escape danger by getting Brandon Crawford to ground out to short to end the inning. Billingsley, who allowed just four Giants hits, improves to 6-9 on the season.

As good as Billingsley was at keeping the Giants off the basepaths, San Francisco had a rough time slowing down Matt Kemp and Hanley Ramirez.

The Dodgers three and four hitters drove in seven of the team’s 10 runs on Saturday.
Kemp entered the game batting .449 against Giants’ starter Barry Zito and on Saturday he continued that domination. Kemp got the Dodgers on the board with a two-run homer to left field in the top of the first inning off of Zito to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. It’s Kemp’s 15th homerun of the season.

Zito lasted 5.1 innings and allowed four earned runs watching his record drop to 8-7 on the season.

However, Kemp was far from done. He also had RBI doubles in the seventh and ninth innings. Kemp bounced back from his 0-5 performance on Friday night by going 4-5, driving in four and scoring three runs. He was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.

Ramirez also had an RBI double in the seventh inning. Often times criticized for his lack of hustle in Miami, Ramirez has shown none of that in his four games with the Dodgers. In the top of the sixth, Ramirez scored from first on a Jerry Hairston Jr. double to the bullpen on the first base side. Ramirez slid in safely in a play at the plate to put the Dodgers up 4-0.

He also had a two-RBI single in the ninth inning to complete a 2-5, three-RBI afternoon.
The Dodgers shutout the Giants and scored 10 runs in a game for the first time since 1997. So far through the weekend series, they’ve scored 15 runs which is a stark contrast to their last series in San Francisco where they were shutout in three games last month and outscored 13-0.

Andre Ethier left the game in the eight inning. He made a catch against the right field wall in the bottom of the seventh inning and landed awkwardly on his left leg. He stayed in the game the remaining of that half inning but did not return to the outfield in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Dodgers are now one game behind the Giants in the National League West standings and will go for the sweep on Sunday at 1:05pm on Prime Ticket.