The opening series of the season was a forgettable one, as the Dodgers took three of four games from the Giants, including the series finale on Sunday night, 7-5.
Matt Kemp got things started on the wrong foot with a two-run homer in the first, though Aubrey Huff's defensive woes in right field didn't exactly help things a few plays earlier -- he whiffed on an attempted diving catch of a Jamey Carroll hit that ended up resulting in an RBI triple.
Huff had problems later, too, that resulted in a Marcus Thames triple and an Aaron Miles' RBI single which gave L.A. the winning cushion.
On the bright side, both Pat Burrell and Aaron Rowand -- perceived offensive liabilities -- continued to produce runs, as each smacked a home run. Burrell's resulted in a 3-all tie in the seventh inning, and Rowand's shot off of closer Jonathan Broxton provided a little false hope when it narrowed the score to 7-5.
Unfortunately, Buster Posey, representing the tying run with Freddy Sanchez on second, grounded out to shortstop on a 2-0 pitch and end the game and give the Dodgers the series.
Zito's performance wasn't terrible (he gave up three hits, three earned runs, walked two and struck out five over over six innings), especially considering how close he was to actually missing the start after being involved in a car accident earlier in the week.
And Dan Runzier, not Zito, took the loss after giving up four earned runs in just a third inning of work.
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But after a 10-0 rout of the Dodgers on Saturday, it looked as if the club might be getting its championship wings underneath it. Sunday proved that repeating as World Series champs -- not even to mention division champions -- isn't going to be a walk in the park.
