SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants nearly gave up a close game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, August 10, 2008, but were able to capture the win, 5-4 in the final inning of the game thanks to teammate Eugenio Velez.   San Francisco got the game off to a good start by scoring in the 1^st inning.   They held onto the lead until the 3^rd inning where the Dodgers tied up the score, 1-1.    The Giants retaliated by scoring 2 runs in the fourth, giving them the edge, 3-1.   They held onto the lead until they allowed the Dodgers to score 2 runs in the seventh, putting them up 4-3.   The Giants fought back scoring 2 additional runs in the 9^th to win the game.

          Leading the Giants in scoring was Dave Roberts who had 2 runs and 2 hits during the game.   Superstar Randy Winn had 1 run, 3 hits and 3 RBI’s in the game.   Players Aaron Rowand and Ivan Ochoa both had 1 run each in the game and a total of 6 hits combined between the two.   The Dodgers only had 6 hits compared to San Francisco’s 14 hits and came fairly close to defeating the Giants.   Leading the Dodgers in scoring where players Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier who both had 2 runs apiece in the game.   Kemp was able to capture 3 hits, while Ethier had 2 hits and 1 RBI in the game.   Player Manny Ramirez had 1 hit and 2 RBI’s in Sunday’s loss.

          Los Angeles pitcher Chad Billingsley didn’t have a superstar performance in Sunday’s defeat.   Billingsley gave up 9 hits and 3 runs during the 6 innings he pitched.   He did manage to strike out 6 players though.   San Francisco pitcher Matt Cain gave up 6 hits and 4 runs during the 7 innings he played and managed to strike out 4 players.   The Giants are still in fourth place in the NL West, only a couple of games ahead of Colorado . The Giants have a hectic schedule with a 4 game series against the Houston Astros beginning on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 and then a 4 game series against the Atlanta Braves beginning Friday, August 15, 2008.