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 In what is regarded as one of the greatest rivalries next to the Red Sox and the Bronx Bombers’ Yankees, the Giants and Dodgers Rivalry heats up even more.  Barry Bonds, no longer an active player in a Giants uniform, still made an appearance at the Giants outfielders’ reunion Saturday night setting the hometown fans into a frenzy.  Bonds said  “It was weird not to be in uniform as an active player with the Dodgers right next to him.” He also reiterated that ” he is not retired, and thanked the fans, and also told Dodgers Manager Joe Torre, I beat you before and I will beat you again.” This was sort of just an exclamation point to the Giants-Dodgers heated rivalry.

   The game itself however was a great game for this rivalry. It featured an unlikely pitchers duel of the Giants’ Kevin Correia and the Dodgers’ Hiroki Koruda. Both pitched solid. Koruda pitched 7 innings of one run ball, while his counterpart Correia pitched six innings of 1 run ball.  In the 7th, with two outs and a man on 1st base and Manny Ramirez at the plate, Sadler had a 1-2 count on one of the greatest hitters up to bat in a 1-1 game and he threw a breaking ball that froze Manny for Strike 3 and Sadler full of emotion and animosity, pumped his fist twice and once in the air after he struck Manny out.  Some critics say he was over emotional and stirred some commotion and got the attention of other Dodgers players, mainly the ex-Giant Jeff Kent.  In extra innings, top of the 10th the game still tied at 1, Kent came up to the plate against Tyler Walker and on Walker’s second pitch, Kent drove a bomb to deep left field for a go ahead home run  to break the tie and pointed to his dugout and gave the Giants a glance as he rounded third, kind of like an in your face to the Giants and Sadler in particular. However, in the bottom of the inning, an ex-Dodger, Dave Roberts (known as the Doc) started the come from behind rally with a leadoff double off closer Jonathan Broxton. Winn then blooped a single to put runners on the corner. Emmanuel Burriss then chopped a fielder’s choice grounder to the right of the mound and Broxton fielded it and spinned and tried to throw Roberts out at the plate, but the throw got away from catcher Russell Martin and the Giants tied the score at 2, with Burriss advancing to second and Winn to third.  After Ochoa got hit by a pitch to load the bases still with nobody out, Molina came up to the plate and struck out.  Then came Aaron Rowand who had struggled throughout the whole game and left 5 runners on base in his last two at bats, came through in the clutch and hit a see-and-eye single past the reach of what do you know Jeff Kent into the right field for a walk-off hit and a Giants come-from-behind win against their arch rival Dodgers. There couldn’t of been no sweeter ending than the newest Giants outfielder continuing the tradition of this rivalry and beating LA on a walk-off hit on the night of the Giants Outfielders Reunion.  It was a much needed win for these young and rebuilding Giants, as they have a chance to take a series from the Dodgers for the first time this season and continue their goal to be spoilers: as they kept the Dodgers in 2nd place behind the D-Backs at one game! 

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