Dodgers end losing skid at six
The first thing that Dodgers’ manager Don Mattingly learned when first taking over for Los Angeles is that the less trips he makes to mound after a bad call, the less chance he has of being ejected.
Although it is a golden rule to at least try to keep your cool when going after an umpire and confronting him after making a call in favor of the opposing team, it’s hard not to get frustrated and let your emotions get the better of you.
Just ask Mattingly who took over for the ejected Joe Torre Tuesday night and visited the mound twice in a matter of seconds, triggering a rules fiasco that led directly to a crushing loss.
Subbing for the suspended Torre on Wednesday night, Mattingly learned his lesson the second time around and was able to get his temper in check and did not visit the mound until the fifth inning.
The way his team was playing, there was reason for him to steer clear of the mound and just let pitcher Chad Billingsley go all the way in a five-hit, 125-pitch shutout as the Dodgers beat the Giants, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium.
The win was Mattingly's his first as a manager and ended a six-game losing skid.
"That's what we needed," said Mattingly, whose role as managerial heir-apparent is taking on more urgency with Torre increasingly hinting lately that this could be his final season as Dodgers manager. "It feels good for the club, not so much for me. When you get pitching like that, it's pretty easy."
It was Billingsley's second career shutout and third complete game.
Ironically, his previous shutout also came against San Francisco on July 30, 2008.
"I was thinking about it, it was around the same time, it was against these guys, it's always nice to win against the Giants," Billingsley said. "It's always nice to be the guy who gets the stop. Any one of our guys who goes out there, they try to do the same thing.
"We've been struggling lately, we just need to win a few games, get on a roll and there's a lot of season left."
The 125 pitches were a career high for Billingsley and they were not all easy. He had to pitch out of jams in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings, retiring those at bat and holding runners in scoring position.
"I stuck with my game plan and stayed down in the zone," Billingsley said. "I always try to do that, but some days it just doesn't happen."
The Dodgers let Billingsley go the distance in part because he threw only 67 pitches in his last start and for the fact that the Giants could not muster any offence off his pitches.
While Billingsley provided solid pitching, Casey Blake provided the offence.
Since the All-Star break, Blake came into the game batting .143 but made his presence felt with a fly ball just inside the left-field foul pole in the second inning, for his 10th homer of the season.
In the eighth inning, after Rafael Furcal singled and Andre Ethier walked, Blake singled home Furcal.
"It was awesome, especially after last night, I know he felt bad about what happened, you just feel terrible for the guy because you know how bad he feels," Blake said when asked about Mattingly's first win as Dodgers manager. "I love that guy, just like Joe you want to play hard for him. It's nice to get that under his belt."
Pitching coach Rick Honeycutt credited Billingsley’s success to a number of things.
"When he stays in line, he has better command, but it's more about deception," said Honeycutt. "When he spins off, the hitter sees the ball quicker. He's just so much better with a high release point and he stays in line longer. And he gets good command with the lower part of the zone. That's the key to success."
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