Dodgers Top Giants 5-0 in Torre's Debut

[April 01, 2008]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Joe Torre was victorious in his debut as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Brad Penny allowed four hits over 6 2-3 innings in his first opening-day start, Jeff Kent hit a two-run homer off Barry Zito and the Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 5-0 Monday.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers' move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, Duke Snider, Carl Erskine, Don Newcombe, Maury Wills, Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Ron Cey and Tom Lasorda were among those took the field before the game wearing the uniforms of their era. Sandy Koufax and Fernando Valenzuela appeared in street clothes.

Torre, who grew up a Giants' fan in Brooklyn, managed the Yankees to 12 straight postseason appearances, including four World Series championships before rejecting an offer to continue on the job last fall. He joined the Dodgers two weeks later.

"I called several of my players -- my former players, I should say -- to wish them luck," Torre said before the game, adding he heard back from Yankees manager Joe Girardi, catcher Jorge Posada and shortstop Derek Jeter, among others, in the 24 hours leading up to his first game in a Dodgers uniform.

"The guys I've been with, I basically called and wished them luck," Torre said. "They meant a lot to me. We had a great relationship."

While his first game in Los Angeles was played under ideal conditions, New York's final opener at Yankee Stadium was rained out.

The game was the Giants' first without Barry Bonds on their roster since 1992. They decided late last season they wouldn't bring the 43-year-old slugger back for another year. Baseball's season and career home run leader still hasn't landed another job.

"It's going to be different," Giants owner Peter Magowan said. "For 15 years, we've had a huge presence in our clubhouse and on the field. And most of that presence, in my opinion -- I know it's controversial -- but most of that presence was very positive."

Magowan pointed out that for Bonds' first 13 years with the Giants, they had baseball's third-best record, behind the Yankees and Braves.

"And Barry was right at the center of that," Magowan said.

Penny (1-0) retired 13 straight batters before Bengie Molina hit a one-out single in the seventh. Scott Proctor relieved after Aaron Rowand's two-out single and retired Jose Castillo on a fly to center. Penny walked two and struck out three.

The Dodgers held a 3-0 lead after sending only four batters to the plate. Rafael Furcal greeted Zito (0-1) with an RBI double and scored on Matt Kemp's one-out single before Kent hit a 2-2 pitch into the left-center field pavilion.

Kent's 18 opening-day RBIs are the most among active players.

Notes: Zito allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings. ... Dodgers rookie Blake DeWitt singled in his first big-league at-bat in the second and scored on Furcal's two-out single. The attendance was 56,000, matching the largest regular-season crowd in Dodger Stadium history. ... The Dodgers have a 25-26 record and the Giants are 31-20 in season-openers since the longtime rivals moved to California in 1958. ... Dodgers LF Juan Pierre, bypassed in favor of Andre Ethier, sat out the game to end his consecutive games played streak at 434. ... James Loney became the seventh different Dodger to start at first base on opening day in the last seven years; teammate Andre Ethier was the sixth different opening-day left fielder in six years, and DeWitt became the fifth opening-day third baseman in the last five years. ... Brian Bocock became the first Giants rookie to start at shortstop on opening day since Royce Clayton in 1992. Bocock walked twice and grounded out in his first big-league game, and was picked off first by Joe Beimel in the eighth.

[Associated Press; By JOHN NADEL]

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