Capuano Outduels Santana To Lead Dodgers Past Angels 3-1
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Chris Capuano out dueled Ervin Santana with seven gritty innings, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-1 victory over the Angels on Saturday and helping end the NL West leaders' four-game losing streak.
Capuano (9-2) allowed a run and seven hits, struck out four and walked none while lowering his ERA from 2.71 to 2.51. The left-hander worked with runners on base in every inning except the second, giving up a leadoff hit in each of his last four innings.
Ronald Belisario pitched a scoreless eighth and Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth for his 12th save in 15 chances.
Santana (4-8) was charged with three runs -- two earned -- and four hits over eight innings with 10 strikeouts and no walks. The right-hander, coming off a one-hit shutout against Arizona, retired 21 of his last 24 batters.
The Dodgers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first with the help of throwing errors by first baseman Albert Pujols and third baseman Maicer Izturis.
Dee Gordon singled, stole second on a pitch out and advanced on grounder wide of first base by Jerry Hairston Jr. Pujols went for the lead runner instead of the sure out, but his low throw skipped off Gordon as he slid into third. Gordon continued home and Hairston ended up at second before advancing on a wild pitch. He scored when Izturis fielded Juan Rivera's two-out grounder and pulled Pujols off the bag with a high throw.
Howie Kendrick legged out a double to left-center leading off the Angels' fifth, and Izturis followed with a chopper off the plate that Capuano made a diving stop on to the right of the mound before throwing him out. Kendrick got to third on the play and scored on Erick Aybar's single in the hole off the glove of a diving Gordon at shortstop, cutting the Dodgers' lead to 2-1.
John Hester followed with a single, and Gordon made a diving stop of Mike Trout's hard smash through the box -- but could only get the force as Trout beat the relay to first. Center fielder Elian Herrera then robbed Torii Hunter of extra bases with a leaping catch in left-center for the third out, preventing the potential tying and go-ahead runs from scoring.
Santana retired 13 consecutive batters after Uribe's error, but Gordon broke the string in the sixth with a leadoff triple over the head of left fielder Mark Trumbo and Hairston drove in the Dodgers' third run with a sharp single off the glove Izturis as he played the ball near the line.
Gordon, getting a chance to match his speed against Trout's during this series, appeared to beat out a bunt single leading off the seventh. But umpire C.B. Bucknor ruled him out on a headfirst slide after second baseman Kendrick charged the ball and made a sidearm flip to Pujols. Manager Don Mattingly came out for a brief argument with Bucknor.
NOTES: Gordon has 22 stolen bases in 29 attempts, Trout 20 steals in 23 chances. Trout swing second in the eighth after his leadoff single against Belisario. ... The Dodgers are 16-29 at Anaheim during the regular season since interleague play was established in 1997, and 38-53 overall against the Angels. ... Santana has allowed one earned run in 16 innings over his last two starts, after going 1-1 with a 10.18 ERA over his previous four outings -- including a 10-8 win at Colorado. ... Trumbo is batting .318 with 17 homers and 48 RBIs with 14 games left before the All-Star break. The only two players in club history to hit at least .315 with 20 homers and 60 RBIs before the break were Garret Anderson (2003) and Vladimir Guerrero (2004).
