Giants swept by Dodgers

LOS ANGELES " Rafael Furcal hit a leadoff home run and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 7-2 Thursday night for their fifth straight victory.

Eric Stults (2-0) allowed two runs and five hits, Casey Blake and pitch-hitter Doug Mientkiewicz each had two RBIs, and Matt Kemp hit a run-scoring triple, helping send San Francisco to its sixth straight loss.

It's the first time the Giants have lost their first six road games since moving west with the Dodgers after the 1957 season. The last time they dropped their first six on the road was in 1947 " the year Jackie Robinson made his big league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Three-time All-Star Barry Zito (0-2) had another rough start, allowing six runs over five-plus innings on four hits and four walks. He also hit two batters and struck out four.

Last Friday in his season debut, he gave up four runs and seven hits over four innings in a 7-3 loss at San Diego.

Zito, in the third year of a seven-year, $126 million contract, is 21-32 with a 4.95 ERA in 67 starts for the Giants. Last season, the 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner gave up 102 walks, struck out 120 batters and lost 17 games " his worst totals over a full season in the majors. He also became the first Giants pitcher since Jesse Burkett in 1890 to start a season 0-8, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Zito left in the sixth after nicking Russell Martin with a pitch and walking the next two batters. All three scored, as Brandon Medders gave up Blake's sacrifice fly and Mientkiewicz's two-run double into the right field corner.

But Mientkiewicz dislocated his right shoulder sliding headfirst into second. He stayed in the game after getting checked out by trainer Stan Conte, but took himself out one batter later " walking with Conte to the dugout hunched over with his right arm dangling.

He will get an MRI on Friday.

The Dodgers grabbed a 3-1 lead with a pair of runs in the second inning, after the Giants tied it in the top half on Edgar Renteria's run-scoring infield hit.

Andre Ethier was plunked by the left-hander leading off the second. One pitch later, Ethier scored on a sinking line drive by Kemp that left fielder Fred Lewis misplayed into a triple.

Blake followed with an RBI single. James Loney, who drew a pair of bases-loaded walks in Wednesday night's 5-4 victory, came up again with three men on after an intentional walk to Manny Ramirez and took a called third strike to end the inning.

Ramirez, who began this season needing 10 home runs to overtake Mickey Mantle for 15th place on the career list, hasn't homered in his first 31 at-bats spanning 10 games. The 17-year veteran's longest drought at the start of a season was when he went 55 at-bats in 16 games in 2006. His only other double-digit homerless droughts out of the gate were in 2007 (13 games) and 2005 (10 games).

Furcal, who signed a three-year, $30 million contract extension in December after spurning an offer from the Atlanta Braves at the last minute, drove a 2-0 pitch into the lower seats in the left field corner for his 24th career leadoff homer and 12th with the Dodgers. He was limited to 36 games last season because of an injured lower back that required surgery in July, but returned to the lineup in time for the playoffs.

Notes: Giants ace Tim Lincecum, who began spring training late because of bronchitis, flew back to San Francisco on Thursday morning to see a doctor because he was feeling queasy, manager Bruce Bochy said. But everything checked out OK, and the reigning Cy Young winner is expected to make his scheduled start against Arizona on Saturday. ... Kemp has at least one hit in each of the Dodgers' first 10 games. Last season, Loney started with a 15-game streak. ... Dodgers manager Joe Torre is one win from tying Bucky Harris for sixth place on the career list at 2,159.