By Jeremy Harness

 

SAN FRANCISCO – This one wasn’t nearly as long, but it was every bit as dramatic. It’s the sort of thing you would expect when the Giants and Dodgers hook up.

 

The first two contests of this three-game series at AT&T Park has had a strong postseason feel to it, with each game being decided by a single run and being played between two eternal rivals. Thus far in this young season, the Giants have seized control, as they followed up a 12-inning victory by again turning away the Dodgers, 2-1, Wednesday night.

 

Pablo Sandoval, who entered the game hitting only .164, broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning by singling off Dodgers reliever J.P Howell. However, it was the bullpen that saved the Giants’ bacon to give Sandoval a chance to be the offensive hero.

 

The Giants were backed into a corner in the top of that inning, as starter Ryan Vogelsong hit Hanley Ramirez and gave up a single to Adrian Gonzalez to start the inning before being chased from the game.

 

Vogelsong went six-plus innings and gave up only a run on four hits, walking two and striking out another two.

 

Enter Jean Machi, who has been sensational this season, to right the ship. He started off by striking out Kemp but then surrendered an infield hit to Andre Ethier to load the bases. He then forced Juan Uribe into a grounder right back to him. He got the first out at home before Buster Posey threw to first in time to get Uribe and keep the game tied and bring much of the crowd at AT&T Park to its feet.

 

That set the stage for the bottom half of the inning, as Sandoval lined a two-out single up the middle. Joaquin Arias, who walked to lead off the inning, motored home from second to give the Giants a 2-1 lead.

 

From there, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez and closer Sergio Romo combined to shut down the Dodgers’ vaunted lineup, as Romo struck out both Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp – who had a game to forget – to seal this series for the Giants.

 

Defensively, the teams showed up on opposite ends of the spectrum in the first inning. On one side, Arias made a beautiful stop of a hot grounder by Ramirez while second baseman Brandon Hicks fired to first to finish off an inning-ending double play.

 

Meanwhile, Kemp wasn’t quite as skillful in center field. He hauled in a fly ball at the warning track by Hunter Pence, only to have it pop out of his glove as he looked up at the sky. Pence wound up at second on the play, but the Giants were unable to advance him.

 

Kemp’s woes then shifted to the basepaths. After drawing a two-out walk in the second, he was quickly picked off by Vogelsong. The Dodgers challenged the play, but after nearly five minutes of review, the call was upheld.

 

The Giants got on the board in the third, as Buster Posey’s single brought Pence home from second.

 

Vogelsong, who had been cruising right along for five innings, was just about out of the sixth until he gave up a two-out walk to Paul Maholm, his pitching counterpart, and that ended up costing the Giants in a big way.

 

The next batter, second baseman Dee Gordon, lined one over Pence’s head in right center for a triple that scored Maholm and tied the game.

 

Notes: Ramirez was hit on the left hald, which forced him to leave the game for a pinch runner. X-rays taken on the injured hand were negative, according to the Dodgers.