The Giants have very little power. They had planned to rely on little ball. But little ball requires good defense and good baserunning and enough pitching to account for the lack of punch in the lineup.
Too many times, the Giants make mistakes on the bases and on defense. Their defense let them down Tuesday.
In the second inning, left fielder Fred Lewis made a two-base error that led to an unearned run. Another run scored after shortstop Juan Uribe made a fourth-inning error.
Speaking of mistakes, reliever Bobby Howry was ineffective in the ninth inning, getting tagged for two runs on three extra-base hits, including Manny Ramirez's three hits. That was the difference in the Dodgers' 5-3 win, evening the series at a game apiece with Tim Lincecum pitching the rubber game Wednesday night.
On the running side, Travis Ishikawa probably should have scored from first on Uribe's double in the sixth, but he stayed at third base and was stranded as the inning ended.
Jonathan Sanchez deserved better. Both off the runs he allowed were unearned. Sanchez tossed five innings and was pulled after 96 pitches.
DODGERS 5, GIANTS 3: The game was tied 2-2 in the eighth when James Loney drew a bases-loaded walk from Brandon Medders to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead. Rich Aurilia walked with the bags full in the bottom of the eighth to tie it. In the top of the ninth, the Dodgers scored twice off Bobby Howry (closer Brian Wilson was unavailable after working the three previous games) in a rally started by Manny Ramirez's double.
