LOS ANGELES — Manny Ramirez hit a two-run, pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning for career homer No. 548, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday.
Ramirez, who didn’t start for the second straight day because of tightness in his right calf, drove a 1-2 pitch from right-hander Sergio Romo (0-1) into the left field pavilion with one out after Barry Zito walked pinch-hitter Garret Anderson.
The homer tied Ramirez with Mike Schmidt for 14th place all-time.
Ramon Troncoso (1-0) retired Juan Uribe on a fielder’s choice with the bases-loaded to end the eighth to earn the victory. Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect ninth to convert his first save opportunity of the season.
Ramirez’s homer was his second as a pinch-hitter in 18 big league seasons. The 12-time All-Star’s other one came on July 22, 2009, against Cincinnati at Dodger Stadium, when he hit a grand slam on "Manny Ramirez bobblehead night.”
Uribe snapped a scoreless tie in the seventh with a one-out homer off Clayton Kershaw. The Giants have scored fewer than three runs in 58 of Zito’s 101 starts for them. The hard-luck left-hander had the second-lowest run support in the majors last season, a career-low (3.38).
Ramirez’s homer prevented Zito from starting a season 3-0 for the first time in his 11-year career.
Prior to Uribe’s first homer of the season — a drive deep into the left field seats on a full count — the Giants got two runners as far as second base. But Kershaw fanned Pablo Sandoval for his 300th career strikeout to end the third inning, then fanned Uribe and and Andres Torrez to escape the fourth after giving up a leadoff double to Aubrey Huff.
Kershaw gave up four hits and four walks over seven-plus innings and struck out nine. The 22-year-old lefty was pulled after walking Eugenio Velez to open the eighth.
The two-time defending NL West champion Dodgers, who weren’t shut out last season until their 51st game, were five outs away from being blanked for the second time in two days after averaging 7 1/2 runs over their previous eight contests. On Saturday, two-time reining Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum held them to four singles over six innings in a 9-0 win.
NOTES: Sunday marked the 52nd anniversary of the Dodgers’ first regular-season game in Los Angeles, a 6-5 win over the Giants at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. It also was the 60th anniversary of Hall of Fame Vin Scully’s first regular-season game in the Dodgers’ broadcast booth. ... Ramirez needs two RBIs to become the 19th player in history with 1,800. ... Reserve INF Ronnie Belliard made a rare start at 1B in place of James Loney, who is 1 for 20 with six strikeouts against Zito. ... The Dodgers got Zito’s attention right away, as Rafael Furcal lined his first pitch right back at him and the ball struck him on the left side as he recoiled in self-defense. But Zito recovered in time to get the out at first.
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