[新聞] Vogelsong stellar as Giants blank Dodgers
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Vogelsong stellar as Giants blank Dodgers
By Adam Berry / MLB.com | 7/19/2011 2:47 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- After Ryan Vogelsong tossed 6 2/3 scoreless innings,
lowering his National League-best ERA to 2.02, Giants manager Bruce Bochy
said he was hopeful the right-hander would finally get the recognition he
deserves.
Bochy named the journeyman pitcher, one of the biggest surprises in the
league this season, to the NL All-Star team -- a decision he knew "raised
some eyebrows."
For his part, Vogelsong wasn't concerned about proving the doubters wrong,
and especially not about the fact that he has now thrown enough innings to
qualify for the league lead in ERA. Instead, he just wanted to pitch well
enough to win -- and show that his manager made the right call.
"They can say whatever they want to say. It doesn't bother me one bit,"
Vogelsong said. "But he stuck his neck out for me to pick me, so I want to
show people that he made a good decision. I want to prove him right."
Vogelsong did just that Monday night, leading the Giants to a 5-0 victory
over the Dodgers in AT&T Park.
He pitched out of several jams to blank the Dodgers, allowing seven hits and
walking one batter while striking out five, and earned his career-high
seventh win of the season. The right-hander corrected a small mechanical
problem that plagued him in his last three outings, when he walked 13 batters
in 18 2/3 innings -- something he caught during the nine days between starts.
With Vogelsong pitching the way he did, any offense would have been enough to
give the Giants a victory. But San Francisco's lineup, which has yet to score
more than six runs at home all season, showed signs of life by breaking out
for four runs and six hits in the sixth inning to back Vogelsong.
"I hope this is more us than what we were doing earlier in the season," Bochy
said. "In the second half, it's going to be critical for us to do a better
job offensively and get more runs."
The four-run, six-hit sixth tied the Giants' highest single-inning output in
both categories at home all season, and the offensive outburst was led by two
middle-of-the-order hitters enjoying a torrid month at the plate: Pablo
Sandoval and Nate Schierholtz. The two combined for five of the club's 10
hits, a home run, a double and and two RBIs.
"That's what you're hoping your 3-4 guys do -- what they're doing right now
and what they did tonight," Bochy said. "They had good at-bats off a tough
pitcher who's been throwing the ball well. That's been one of our problems in
getting runs. Those guys really clicked tonight and found a way to get the
win for us."
Mike Fontenot led off the sixth with a single, and Sandoval pushed him to
third with a base hit to right field on a 3-2 pitch from Dodgers right-hander
Chad Billingsley. Sandoval entered Monday night's game batting just .182
against Billingsley but went 3-for-4 on the night, including a solo home run
to right field in the fourth.
"He covers all parts of the plate," Billingsley said of Sandoval. "He hits
stuff no one can hit."
Schierholtz then drove in Fontenot and pushed Sandoval to third with a single
up the middle, putting the Giants ahead 2-0. The right fielder, who entered
the game batting .362 with two doubles and three homers in July to go along
with 10 RBIs, finished 2-for-4 from the cleanup spot.
"He's been doing a great job," Sandoval said. "When we get a couple guys
going like that, we're going to do some damage."
But the Giants' rally didn't stop once their two hottest hitters left the
batter's box. Aubrey Huff struck out for the first out of the inning, but
Cody Ross drove in two runs with a double to deep center field. Brandon
Crawford, in the game for the injured Miguel Tejada, then wrapped up the
scoring with an RBI single to center field.
Meanwhile, Vogelsong continued to dominate. After sitting down the first six
batters in order, he pitched out of jams the rest of the way. After he walked
Billingsley and Tejada's error allowed Rafael Furcal to reach safely, the
right-hander struck out Aaron Miles on three pitches to get out of the inning.
He got a little help from his defense in the fourth. With one out, Vogelsong
surrendered his first hit of the game -- a single by Matt Kemp. Juan Rivera
singled and pushed Kemp to third, putting runners on the corners. James Loney
then dribbled a grounder back at Vogelsong, who bobbled the ball but got it
to Crawford in time for the rookie shortstop to turn the inning-ending double
play.
"They've been playing good defense for me all year," Vogelsong said. "I told
Pablo that play he made to turn a double play on [Kemp] changed the whole
game. If he doesn't make that, I'm in another jam there. Even the play
Crawford made, if he doesn't turn that, it's a run. It's 1-1. It changes
everything. These guys have been playing great defense for me all season."
And in return, Vogelsong has been just as good, if not better, for them on
the mound.
"It's impressive, isn't it?" Bochy said. "This guy has done everything and
beyond since he's come up here."
Adam Berry is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject
to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
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