Game Wrap 7/29/2012: Dodgers 4 Giants 0

Game wraps like this one are tough to write when you feel more like jumping in the car and going for a long drive to nowhere or getting out your guitar and playing and singing really loud for awhile.  The Dodgers, behind Clayton Kershaw, completed a dominating 3 game sweep of the Giants in AT&T Park, payback for the shellacking the Giants put on them a few weeks ago.  The Giants were actually not totally out of this one, but nothing seemed to go right for them while the Dodgers were able to capitalize on little mistakes by the Giants.  Key Lines:

Gregor Blanco- 1 for 3, BB, SB(18).  BA= .247.  Blanco is the closest thing the Giants have to a true leadoff hitter and they probably need to stick to that plan unless they can trade for an upgrade.

Ryan Vogelsong- 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 2.22.  Another day at the office for Vogey.  He'd tell you he should have matched Kershaw zero for zero, though.  He created a problem for himself by going 3-0 to Rivera in the 4'th which led to a leadoff single.  With Kemp, Ethier and Ramirez coming up, that's not the way you want to start that inning off.  He would have pitched out of it with only the 1 run allowed had Scutaro not lost a pop up in the sun.  Ramirez lost one later in the game that the Dodgers SS caught, but you could see Vogey seething after Scoots drop and the next batter doubled in another run.  Ballgame!

Clayton Kershaw(Dodgers)-  You had to figure that beating Kershaw 3 straight was an awfully tall order for the Giants and Ryan Vogelsong.  One thing I don't quite get about Kershaw is his radar gun velocity has never been eye popping.  Usually 93-95 max.  Today the highest reading I saw was 93.  Not that he's a soft tosser, but the way batters react, it looks more like they are looking at the high 90's up there.  He must hide the ball well or have some kind of deception in his delivery.

The Giants and Dodgers are now tied for first place in the NL West with the D'Backs lurking 4.5 games back after a 5-1 loss to the Mets.  A lot of fans on various internet message boards are reacting as if this is the end of the season.  While you never want to get swept by your rival at home, this was somewhat predictable.  The Dodgers came to town highly motivated and with a pretty stiff tailwind.  There was the revenge factor from the last series they played in SF plus they had Matt Kemp back and the recently acquired Hanley Ramirez and his corny "I See You" sign.  I know you can't measure that kind of stuff in a statistic, but it's real and makes a big difference in games.  It will be tough, but the Giants need to re-group and play the next series like they just swept the Dodgers to move into a tie for the division lead.  Oh, and Sabes probably needs to make 1 or 2 more moves by the deadline.  As Roger Craig would say, "don't let it get your dauber down!"

Madison Bumgarner will pitch the opener of a 4 game set against the Mets tomorrow night.  RA Dickey pitched today so the Giants won't be facing him, not that it's any guarantee of anything.