The Barry Bonds Traveling Circus packed up and left town Thursday night, its main attraction no closer to baseball's all-time home run mark than he was when the team pitched its tents at Dodger Stadium four days ago.
Mired in one of the worst slumps of his record-setting career, Bonds managed only a harmless single in the series, leaving him six for 34 (.176) with one homer over the past two weeks. That leaves him one home run short of matching Hank Aaron's career total of 755, a pursuit he'll resume tonight in San Diego.
But from the Dodgers' perspective, the most important thing Bonds and the Giants left behind in Los Angeles is a Dodgers team mired in a slump of its own -- one that grew deeper with Thursday's 4-2 loss, L.A.'s fourth in five games and sixth in its last eight.
This one was extra painful for a several reasons. Not only did the Dodgers waste numerous scoring chances, particularly in the eighth and ninth innings, but they also wasted the momentum from Wednesday's stirring comeback victory over the Giants as well as a chance to move back into a tie for first place in the National League West.
And though the Dodgers did a good job containing Bonds, who is batting .139 against them this season, lately they haven't been as successful against the rest of the Giants' lineup -- or anyone else's for that matter.
That was especially true of Thursday's starter Brett Tomko, who got almost as many boos as Bonds during a 43-pitch first half-inning in which the Giants batted around, scoring three times.
In fact Tomko (2-9), who walked three, hit a batter, threw one pitch to the backstop and also made an error, drew cheers from the sellout crowd only twice -- when he appeared to injure himself covering first base in top of the fifth inning and when he left the game for pinch-hitter Delwyn Young in the bottom of the fifth.
"I was a little wild in the first inning," Tomko said. "I settled down after that and threw the ball well."
Unfortunately by then, the Giants had a lead the Dodgers couldn't overcome.
But at least Tomko has been consistent. In his last four starts, the right-hander has given up 12 runs, with eight scoring in the first inning. And while he pitched better after the first inning Thursday -- how could he not? -- the Dodgers' offense couldn't break through against Giants starter Barry Zito (8-10), who won for only the second time since June 5.
