pro Dodgers only thread

[milagros317]

Tuesday's game: Dodgers 10, Arizona Dickheads 3


Rookie Ethier Gets 4 RBI

The Los Angeles Dodgers racked up double-digit hits and runs for a second straight game. The most memorable hits, though, were another round of plunkings.

Rookie Andre Ethier kept up his torrid offensive pace with four RBI, including a two-run triple, and the Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second consecutive game, 11-3 on Tuesday night.

J.D. Drew of the Dodgers and Arizona's Shawn Green were hit by pitches one day after Nomar Garciaparra was hit three times by Arizona pitchers.

Drew was the first batter Brandon Medders faced in the fifth, and he got hit below the knee. Plate umpire Laz Diaz warned both sides after Green was hit in the right hip by Danys Baez with two outs in the ninth.

"I can honestly say I wasn't expecting it, but I know it was intentional," Green said. "It's unfortunate that the two intentional ones are on that side with guys on our team that got hit. It wasn't vice versa. But we've got a lot more games, so we'll see what happens."

An incensed Luis Gonzalez, dressing in an adjacent locker, interrupted reporters as they talked to Green after the game.

"Go ask Baez and Grady Little," he said in an expletive-filled tirade. "They're the ones that waited until late in the game to throw at him. It was gutless. Go talk to them so they can tell you that the ball slipped out of his hand."

Asked about Baez hitting Green, Little, the Dodgers manager, replied, "I call that a pitcher trying to get a ball in on him that just got too far in. That's all it was."

The series concludes Wednesday, and Ethier said he doesn't anticipate any fallout.

"Sometimes you throw the ball in, sometimes you get hit," he said. "We'll have to wait and see, but I don't think there's anything resulting from it, just pitchers being aggressive."

Kenny Lofton drove in three runs for the Dodgers, who have scored 21 runs in their last two games after getting 15 in their previous six combined.

Ethier had four hits and drove in two runs in the Dodgers' 10-4 victory Monday, and his .342 average leads all major league rookies by a wide margin. His turnaround came after striking out four times against the Angels on Sunday.

"I guess you got to even out those bad games," he said. "You always hear you don't want those peaks and valleys and you'd rather have small hills. That's what I'm trying to do -- staying positive and keeping hope no matter the circumstance."

Aaron Sele (5-2) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings, struck out five and walked one, improving to 3-0 in his career against the D-backs.

Enrique Gonzalez (2-2) gave up seven runs and eight hits, struck out one and walked two in four innings, equaling his shortest outing in seven starts.

The Diamondbacks arrived in Los Angeles off a three-game sweep of AL West-leading Oakland. But their pitching has been battered by the Dodgers, who had 13 hits Tuesday to go with 15 the night before.

After three consecutive outs in the first, Los Angeles scored in each of the next five innings.

The Dodgers struck for five runs in the third, highlighted by two-run singles from Lofton and Cesar Izturis. Ethier walked to force in another run with two outs.

Lofton's sacrifice fly made it 7-2 in the fourth. Ethier's triple and a sacrifice fly by rookie Russell Martin added three runs in the fifth.

The Dodgers extended their lead to 11-2 on Drew's two-out RBI double in the sixth.

Orlando Hudson homered in the first for Arizona -- the team's first home run since June 27, a span of 61 innings. An RBI single by Enrique Gonzalez made it 2-0 in the second. Their other run came in the seventh on Eric Byrnes' two-out single.

The Dodgers scored their first run on Ethier's RBI groundout in the second.

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Wednesday's game: Dodgers 5, Arizona Dickheads 4



Dodgers Complete the Sweep

Perhaps when Brad Penny gets to Pittsburgh next week, he'll appreciate his first-time All-Star status. But for now, all he's concerned about is his next appearance for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"I'm planning on throwing maybe an inning out of the bullpen on Sunday here, so that's what I've got on my mind right now," Penny said Wednesday night after pitching seven strong innings in a 5-4 victory that completed a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. "We're tied for first, so the important thing is going out there and not worrying about my first half, but the team's first half."

Penny (10-2) allowed two runs and seven hits while striking out six. The right-hander, who is off to the best start of his seven-year career, won for the third straight time and lowered his ERA to 2.92.

"Wins and losses are sometimes more luck than how you pitch," Penny said. "But if you keep your team in the game, you're going to win more than you lose. And that's what I'm trying to do."

The turning point of Penny's season so far may have been on May 29 at Atlanta, when he was removed by manager Grady Little with an 8-5 lead -- just two outs shy of the required five innings for a victory. He threw a tantrum that was seen all over the country, but he and Little quickly patched things up.

"I think the best thing was that it was handled head-on by Grady the next day," Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said. "I was in the meeting, and they put it behind them. Both of them said what they needed to say, and it was over right then. From that point on, he's been tremendous -- not that he wasn't before that -- but he hasn't let it affect him.

"Since then, I think his attitude towards the game has been better," Honeycutt added. "He's been looser and has gone about his business really well. That relationship between him and Grady continues to grow. They lean on each other. Grady has shown that he has confidence in Brad, and vice-versa. So that's always a good thing."

Takashi Saito got four outs for his sixth save in six chances. He loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth and gave up a two-run single to Chad Tracy before striking out Conor Jackson with the tying run on second.

The Diamondbacks have now been swept in a series of three or more games six times since June 4, including a four-game set against the New York Mets, and have lost 23 of their last 29 contests. Yet they are only 4 1-2 games out of first place in the NL West. The Dodgers are tied for the top spot with Colorado and San Diego at 44-40.

"We've got to start getting the job done," center fielder Eric Byrnes said. "We're going to have to start playing better baseball. We have to get back to .500 first, but I don't think that a team that plays .500 baseball is going to win this division this year."

The Diamondbacks came into Los Angeles off a three-game sweep at Oakland, including complete-game victories by Miguel Batista and All-Star Brandon Webb on Saturday and Sunday. But none of Arizona's three starting pitchers in this series could record more than four innings. Juan Cruz, Enrique Gonzalez and Claudio Vargas were charged with a combined total of 16 runs and 22 hits.

Vargas (7-5) allowed five runs -- three earned -- and seven hits in four-plus innings. Andre Ethier opened the scoring with a leadoff homer in the second, driving a 2-1 pitch into the right field pavilion.

In the third, the Dodgers scored four runs to increase their lead to 5-0. Penny led off with a double and came home on a one-out triple by Cesar Izturis. Vargas walked Nomar Garciaparra and J.D. Drew hit what appeared to be a tailor-made double-play grounder to second baseman Orlando Hudson, whose throw sailed past shortstop Damion Easley as Izturis and Drew scored. Hudson's error was his seventh -- one more than all of last year, when he won his first Gold Glove.

"I just threw it away," Hudson snapped. "They ended up getting three runs because of it and we ended up losing by one run. I lost the game. It was my fault, so I'll take that L. That's the way baseball goes. We're just going to keep our heads up and keep grinding."

Ethier was 6-for-12 in the series with a triple, two doubles and seven RBI. He also prevented a run in the sixth with a sliding grab of Johnny Estrada's flyball in short left field for the third out.

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Friday's game: Dodgers 9, hated jints 7


The Evil One Hits His 720th Homerun, But Garciaparra's Homrerun Wins It For the Dodgers


Nomar Garciaparra's late-inning heroics stole the show again -- this time from Barry Bonds.

Garciaparra's tie-breaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning trumped Bonds' 720th career home run and lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 9-7 victory over the hated jints on Friday night.

"When I hit it, I knew it was gone," said Garciaparra, who fouled off two fastballs before connecting. "I was able to get one where I got the barrel on it. I was just battling, trying to keep the inning alive because the guys behind me are swinging the bat well."

Garciaparra, who is going to his sixth All-Star Game and first as a National Leaguer, drove an 0-2 splitter from Jeremy Accardo (1-3) into the bullpen in left with one out in the eighth. It was his 11th homer of the season and it broke a 6-6 tie.

"It's my fault. It's all on me. I just didn't throw it where I needed to," Accardo said. "I hung it. And if you hang a pitch like that to a good hitter, he's going to beat you every time. ... I can't put a finger on why it hung. I tried to throw it in the dirt."

Cesar Izturis capped the decisive rally with an RBI single, his third hit. Danys Baez (5-4) pitched a hitless eighth for the victory. Takashi Saito got three outs for his seventh save in as many chances, just hours after the Dodgers announced that former All-Star closer Eric Gagne would undergo season-ending back surgery on Saturday.

Bonds gave the hated jints a 5-4 lead in the third with a three-run shot, his first home run in 26 at-bats since June 24. The seven-time NL MVP, who is 35 home runs behind all-time leader Hank Aaron, added an RBI single in the ninth.

"We know that Barry's going to drive in runs," manager Felipe Alou said. "He had a number of hittable pitches in a couple of the games in Arizona that he just missed and popped up, but we knew he was going to get back his stroke. I could tell by the way he took BP today. He even hit a ball over the roof and into the parking lot."

The Dodgers took a 6-5 lead in the sixth against hated jints' starter Matt Morris when Russell Martin, who led off with a double, scored on a throwing error by right fielder Moises Alou after he caught a fly ball by Matt Kemp with Martin on third.

The hated jints tied it in the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Ray Durham, who hit his 11th home run in the second.

Dodgers rookie Chad Billingsley allowed five runs -- four earned -- and six hits over 5 1/3 innings and remained winless in five major league starts. The 21-year-old right-hander, a first-round draft pick by the Dodgers in 2003, was the organization's minor league pitcher of the year last season and was promoted from Triple-A on June 14.

Bonds, who hit his first major league home run eight weeks before Billingsley's second birthday, drove his 12th homer of the season an estimated 449 feet into the pavilion seats in right-center with two outs in the third.

Billingsley is the 426th pitcher to give up a home run to the 13-time All-Star. Bonds, who turns 42 on July 24, has hit 63 home runs against the Dodgers, 28 in Los Angeles. He had one hit in 19 at-bats against the Dodgers this season before the home run.

"We didn't expect to go the whole year without seeing one, and he gave us a glimpse of what he's been doing all these years," Dodgers manager Grady Little said.

Los Angeles tied it at 5 in the fifth inning on an RBI single by rookie Andre Ethier.

Dodgers second baseman Jeff Kent sat out his fourth straight game because of a strained muscle in his left side. Center fielder Kenny Lofton, another former Giant, left the game with tightness in his right hamstring after running out a sacrifice bunt in the first inning. Their replacements, Ramon Martinez and Kemp, both drove in runs in the first two innings.

Garciaparra and J.D. Drew both extended their hitting streaks during the Dodgers' three-run first. Garciaparra made it 19 straight with an RBI single, Drew followed with a double that gave him 13 consecutive games with a hit. Martinez drove them in with a two-out double that gave Los Angeles a 3-1 lead.

Kemp gave the Dodgers a 4-2 lead in the second with an RBI groundout after Alou misplayed Martin's sinking liner into a triple. The 40-year-old Alou was playing his second game after missing 2½ weeks because of a lower back strain.

Morris allowed six runs -- five earned -- and a season-high 10 hits over six innings.

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Sunday's game: Dodgers 3, hated jints 1

Dodgers Beat Schmidt to Split Series with the hated jints

Aaron Sele pitched six strong innings, Nomar Garciaparra extended his hitting streak to 21 games, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat All-Star Jason Schmidt and the hated jints 3-1 Sunday.

Sele (6-2) allowed four hits and one run while walking two and striking out a season-high seven before being relieved by Brad Penny to start the seventh. Sele is 6-0 with a 1.65 ERA in seven starts at Dodger Stadium this season.

Penny, an NL All-Star who hadn't pitched since Wednesday, retired only one batter in the second relief appearance of his career, leaving with runners at first and second. The hated jints loaded the bases with two outs on Jose Vizcaino's infield hit before Moises Alou grounded into a force play against Danys Baez, the third pitcher of the inning.

Takashi Saito, the fifth Dodgers pitcher, worked the ninth for his eighth save in as many chances.

The Dodgers enter the All-Star break with a 46-42 record and trail NL West-leading San Diego Padres by two games. The hated jints are 45-44 after going 5-6 on a season-high 11-game road trip, and trail the Padres by 3½ games.

Schmidt (6-5) allowed seven hits and three runs in six innings with one walk and three strikeouts. He hasn't won since June 6, going 0-3 with three no-decisions.

The Evil One returned to the hated jints' lineup after taking Saturday off because of a sore right knee and went 1-for-4. He has 720 career homers, 35 behind all-time leader Henry Aaron.

The Dodgers took a 2-0 lead in the first on a single by Rafael Furcal, an RBI double by Cesar Izturis and Andre Ethier's sacrifice fly.

After getting only two baserunners in the first four innings, the hated jints got a run in the fifth on a two-out, bases-loaded single by Omar Vizquel. Sele then retired Alou on a popup to end the inning.

Garciaparra, hitting .358 and tied for the NL batting lead with Pittsburgh's Freddy Sanchez, singled to start the sixth and later scored on a single by Jose Cruz Jr., giving the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.

The Evil One doubled to open the second, but Sele retired the next three batters.

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Tuesday's game: Dodgers 4, Dickheads 1

Billingsley's First Major League Win Breaks the Dodgers' Losing Streak


Chad Billingsley's long-awaited first major league victory was a gem.

The 21-year-old right-hander threw seven scoreless innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Arizona Dickheads 4-1 Tuesday night.

"That was a big shot in the arm for him," Dodgers manager Grady Little said. "He's pitched a few good ballgames for us and come away with nothing to show for it, but he was outstanding out there tonight. You can't say enough about the way he pitched."

Billingsley (1-2) scattered six hits in the longest outing of his seven big-league starts, striking out four and walking two. Billingsley has thrown 14 straight scoreless innings, but had struggled with control problems since coming up from the minors in June.

"It was just me battling myself and giving the hitters too much credit," Billingsley said. "Today I just went out there and trusted my stuff and got ahead of the hitters, and just put guys away."

The Dickheads were surprised by the youngster's array of pitches.

"Fastball, curve, cutter, change -- it's good stuff," manager Bob Melvin said. "He threw a lot of cutters, some sliders at a little lesser speed, and some changeups, and had more pitches than we were aware of."

Billingsley has been working on his cutter, and used it effectively against the seven lefty batters in Arizona's starting lineup.

"He showed what he can do," said catcher Russell Martin, who also teamed with Billingsley in the minors. "He didn't even have his best stuff today."

It was good enough to impress Arizona's Orlando Hudson.

"That's the first time I've faced him," Hudson said. "He's got a good live fastball, a hard cutter, a great curveball. I tell you what, he had command of his pitches tonight."

Nomar Garciaparra doubled, tripled and drove in a run in the Dodgers' first win since the All-Star break.

Willy Aybar doubled twice with an RBI after being called up from Triple-A Las Vegas earlier in the day when Jeff Kent went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained muscle in his left side.

"He's like a lot of our other young players," Little said. "As soon as they hit the door, they come in there swingin' and making some noise."

J.D. Drew had an RBI single and Andre Ethier brought in a run with a sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth. Ethier walked with two outs and scored from first on Aybar's double into the right-field corner, where Arizona's Jeff DaVanon had a hard time coming up with the ball.

Dickheads starter Juan Cruz got into more trouble in the fifth. Kenny Lofton's walk and Garciaparra's ground-rule double put runners at second and third with one out. Drew singled home Lofton and Garciaparra scored on Ethier's sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

Stephen Drew and pinch-hitter Andy Green singled to start the Arizona fifth, but Billingsley got three straight outs to end the threat.

Cruz (3-5) allowed three runs and six hits in five innings. He struck out four, walked three and hit a batter with a pitch.

Tony Pena, called up from Triple-A Tucson on Tuesday, allowed one run in 1 2-3 innings in his major league debut. Gold Glove second baseman Hudson misread Lofton's grounder in the seventh and it bounced past him for a double. Garciaparra then hit a run-scoring triple off Pena to make it 4-0.

Hudson hit a two-out RBI single off Takashi Saito in the ninth before Stephen Drew fouled out to Martin for the final out.

😀 😀

 

[Knox The Hatter]

There's a better than even chance that this current hot streak by the Dodgers could wrap the division up, since it seems the other teams might not be capable of sustaining the same pace...

 

[milagros317]

Friday's game: Dodgers 13, Nationals 1

While the Dodgers are under .500, I will refrain from posting long accounts of individual game victories, and just report the score.

 

[milagros317]

Saturday's game: Dodgers 7, Nationals 5

While the Dodgers are under .500, I will refrain from posting long accounts of individual game victories, and just report the score.

 

[milagros317]

Sunday's game: Dodgers 4, Nationals 3, to complete a sweep of the 3-game series.

While the Dodgers are under .500, I will refrain from posting long accounts of individual game victories, and just report the score.

 

[milagros317]

Tuesday's game: Dodgers 10, Reds 4

While the Dodgers are under .500, I will refrain from posting long accounts of individual game victories, and just report the score.

 

[NitroAndMercury]

Booo Dodgers... j/k

I don't really hate or like them, but they got a nice player in Wilson Betemit. I was sad to see him go, because I think Atlanta would have been better off keeping him. He had a nice game vs. The Reds. 1st HR with LAD

 

[milagros317]

I hope that HR was the first of many as a Dodger for him. 😀

 

[milagros317]

Wednesday's game: Dodgers 5, Reds 3

While the Dodgers are under .500, I will refrain from posting long accounts of individual game victories, and just report the score.

 

[milagros317]

Thursday's game: Dodgers 3, Reds 0

While the Dodgers are under .500, I will refrain from posting long accounts of individual game victories, and just report the score.

 

[milagros317]

Friday's game: Dodgers 6, Marlins 2

While the Dodgers are under .500, I will refrain from posting long accounts of individual game victories, and just report the score.

 

[milagros317]

Saturday's game: Dodgers 10, Marlins 2


Dodgers get back to .500 with eighth straight victory
------------------------------------------------------------

Rafael Furcal hit a three-run double, Chad Billingsley struck out seven in six strong innings and Los Angeles Dodgers won their eighth straight game with a 10-2 victory over the Florida Marlins on Saturday.

The Dodgers' winning streak is their longest since April 12-20, 2005, and it comes immediately after they lost 13 of 14 following the All-Star break.

Billingsley (3-3) gave up one run on three hits. The 21-year-old rookie has won three of his last four starts.

Josh Johnson (9-6) pitched three innings, allowing five runs on eight hits. He struck out three in his shortest outing in 17 starts this season. His ERA went from a National League-leading 2.52 to 2.85.

Andre Ethier hit a bases-loaded double in the fourth that drove in two runs and stretched the Dodgers lead to 7-1. They scored three more runs in the sixth, two of them on James Loney's triple.

Los Angeles scored four runs in the second inning, when they sent nine batters to the plate. After loading the bases with no outs, Furcal hit a hard grounder just inside first base that rolled into the right field corner for a three-run triple. Furcal scored on Kenny Lofton's single to make the score 5-0.

Furcal finished 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Ethier was 3-for-3.

Later in the second, Marlins manager Joe Girardi was ejected from the game by home plate umpire Chris Guccione after arguing about a called ball on Ethier.

The only run allowed by Billingsley came when he walked Josh Willingham with the bases loaded in the third.

Dan Uggla drove in Florida's other run with an infield single in the seventh off reliever Giovanni Carrara.

Newly acquired Julio Lugo scored the Dodgers' first run on J.D. Drew's double in the first.

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Sunday's game: Dodgers 7, Marlins 3

Six Run 7th Inning Gives Dodgers 9th Straight Win
----------------------------------------------------

The Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to nine games Sunday, with plenty of help from the Florida Marlins.

Baseball's hottest team rallied in a six-run seventh inning that included three consecutive walks, two with the bases loaded, and the Dodgers completed their third series sweep in a row by beating Florida 7-3.

The Marlins, hurt by two errors and a passed ball, fell to 3-19 when they commit more than one error. Scott Olsen (9-5) took a 3-1 lead into the seventh but lost for the first time since June 28.

Mark Hendrickson (1-4) earned his first win in seven starts since the Dodgers acquired him from Tampa Bay. He allowed six hits and three runs in six innings.

Wilson Betemit and Toby Hall each had a two-run hit to help the Dodgers complete their first series sweep in Miami since May 19-21, 2000. Los Angeles climbed over .500 at 56-55 and remained in the thick of the NL West and wild-card races.

The winning streak comes after the Dodgers lost 13 of 14 games following the All-Star break.

Florida, fading from the wild-card race, was swept for the first time since May 19-21 at Tampa Bay.

Marlins catcher Paul Hoover, making his first major-league start since 2002, drove home a run with a suicide squeeze bunt but also made a throwing error to give the Dodgers an unearned run.

Florida became generous again in the seventh. Ramon Martinez led off with an infield single and advanced on a passed ball. Rafael Furcal extended his hitting streak to 13 games by bunting for a hit, then stole second. Jason Repko walked to load the bases, ending Olsen's outing after 109 pitches on a 90-degree afternoon.

Reliever Logan Kensing reached a 2-2 count against Julio Lugo but left the game after consulting with a trainer. Taylor Tankersley threw two balls to walk Lugo and force in a run, then walked Olmedo Saenz to tie the score at 3.

Betemit made it 5-3 with a two-out single, the first ball hit out of the infield in the inning. Hall followed with a two-run double.

Two Florida errors gave Los Angeles a run in the first. Furcal reached on a throwing error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez, advanced on a groundout, took third on a two-out wild pitch and continued home when Hoover's throw sailed into left field.

Florida trailed 1-0 before scoring twice in the second. Cody Ross singled to lead off and came home when Wes Helms doubled off the top of the scoreboard, missing a home run by perhaps an inch. Helms took third on a groundout and scored on the squeeze by Hoover, who beat out the bunt for a hit.

The Marlins made it 3-1 in the fifth. Ramirez walked, stole second, took third on a single by Dan Uggla and came home on Miguel Cabrera's groundout.

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Monday's game: Dodgers 7, Rockheads 2

Kent Returns as Superman as Dodgers Win 10th in a Row
---------------------------------------------------------

Jeff Kent returned from the disabled list with two big hits -- and a first baseman's mitt.

Kent homered, doubled and drove in three runs Monday night, and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to 10 games with a 7-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies. The four-time All-Star second baseman also made 10 putouts in his first start at first base since last September.

"I was hoping he'd be rusty. He's not," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "He was going to come off the DL sooner or later, and he's got some good history against us. There's a handful of guys like that. It's like a rock in your shoe or a burr in your saddle. We can't seem to shake him."

Brad Penny (12-5) pitched eight strong innings for the Dodgers and allowed five hits, including homers by Garrett Atkins and Brad Hawpe. The All-Star right-hander struck out four, walked none and helped himself with an RBI double.

"I was throwing a lot of changeups and breaking balls early in the count," Penny said. "They were hitting the ball decent, but right at people. And that's always huge for me. Fortunately, I got a lot of early outs tonight and a lot of great defense behind me."

Penny is 4-0 with a 0.99 ERA in four starts against the Rockies this season, and 9-2 in 14 career starts with a 2.16 ERA -- the lowest by any pitcher against Colorado, according to STATS Inc.

"Obviously, Penny has more than had his way with us. He's dominated us," Hurdle said. "The problem tonight was his first-pitch strikes. He was shaving corners away. Late in the count, he was shaving corners in with his breaking ball. He was just on top of his game."

Penny retired his first 11 batters and was staked to a 4-0 lead before Atkins drove a 2-0 pitch to left-center for his 17th home run. Hawpe led off the eighth with his 16th homer, trimming the Dodgers' lead to 5-2, but J.D. Drew responded with a two-run double in the bottom half.

"We're doing everything good right now," manager Grady Little said. "The pitchers have been consistent, both the starters and relievers, and we've been getting some good, timely hitting. We've got a different team right now than we had a month ago. There's some different faces out there and they've made a big difference in this ballclub."

The Dodgers' winning streak, which is five games shy of the franchise record set in 1924, began one game after Penny initiated a heated confrontation with center fielder Kenny Lofton in the dugout during a 10-3 loss to San Diego. Los Angeles went 1-13 coming out of the All-Star break.

"I think all of us had doubts at that time, but we went through it and we learned from it," Little said. "They learned it's not the end of the world. You're going to go through a lot of good times and a lot of bad ones.

"It was just a matter of everyone doing their job the best they could and seeing what they could do to make a difference, and it's paying off. Now we'll just continue to go forward."

Josh Fogg (7-7) allowed five runs, eight hits and four walks in 4 1/3 innings. The right-hander was removed by Hurdle after giving up a bases-loaded RBI single by Julio Lugo that made the score 5-1. After crossing the foul line, Fogg crossed the line with plate umpire Sam Holbrook and was ejected after complaining too strongly about his call on a previous pitch.

Lofton, who was 3-for-5 with two stolen bases, tripled in the first inning and scored on Kent's two-out double. The Dodgers made it 2-0 in the second when Russell Martin singled and came home on Penny's double into the left-field corner.

Kent, who missed 18 games because of a strained muscle on his left side, drove in two more in the third with his 10th homer -- one pitch after a leadoff walk to Drew.

"He's not the most vocal guy, but he leads by the way he plays," Martin said. "He's a tough player and a tough competitor, and you just kind of feed off that. And with him back in the lineup, he's going to help us out a whole lot with his bat. You could just see that he's locked in. Every swing he took tonight was perfectly balanced and he was taking good hacks."

Three of the first seven Colorado batters were robbed of hits on diving plays by three different infielders. Kent smothered Hawpe's smash up the line in the third and ran to the bag for the out.

"His defense was great," teammate Jason Repko said. "I just think it's great that he could come out here and just right away be willing to go there and help the team wherever it's needed."

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Tuesday's game: Dodgers 4, Rockheads 2

Dodgers Win 11th in a Row
-----------------------------

Greg Maddux played a big part in the Dodgers' 11th straight victory, even without getting the win.

Maddux pitched six solid innings in his home debut for his new team, and Los Angeles rallied past the Colorado Rockies 4-2 Tuesday night.

"He was good, gave us everything we needed," manager Grady Little said after the Dodgers pushed a winning streak to 11 games for the first time since 1993.

Maddux did not get a decision after allowing two runs and seven hits, but Los Angeles pulled within a half-game of first-place San Diego in the NL West. They are tied with Cincinnati for the wild-card lead.

The Dodgers got homers from Rafael Furcal and Wilson Betemit before pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh.

"I didn't lose it," Maddux said with a slight smile. "And Olmedo get the big hit and the defense played well again.

"I felt good. When Rafael turned that double play in the first inning, that was big. The last thing you want to do is get blown out of the water in the first inning."

Maddux gave up consecutive singles to Jamey Carroll and Todd Helton to open the game, but Garrett Atkins grounded to Furcal at shortstop. He started the double play that helped Maddux escape an early jam.

"It would have been nice to click him in the first inning," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "He's the kind of guy you've got to click in the first inning, but we weren't able to do that. We had the right hitter up, and he hit into the double play."

The winning streak, which began after Los Angeles dropped 13 of 14 coming out of the All-Star break, is the Dodgers' longest since May 1993. The club record is 15 in a row, set in 1924.

Brett Tomko (7-6) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win, and Takashi Saito worked a perfect ninth for his 12th save in 12 chances.

The Dodgers took a 3-2 lead in the seventh on Betemit's leadoff homer against Byung-Hyun Kim and Saenz's run-scoring single.

"Saenz has been very steady for us," Little said. "He gets the big hits at the right times this year."

Saenz is 12-for-41 (.293) as a pinch-hitter this season, with 12 RBI and two homers.

"It's hard to find a guy that can do it, and Saenz has really grabbed hold of that," Hurdle said. "He's a professional hitter who's very good at what he does."

Betemit, acquired from Atlanta on July 28 for pitcher Danys Baez and Willy Aybar, hit his 12th homer of the year to draw the Dodgers even at 2. The home run was his third since the trade.

Kim (7-7) gave up two runs and eight hits in six-plus innings, the runs coming on Furcal's seventh homer in the first inning and Betemit's shot.

Andre Ethier gave Los Angeles an insurance run with an RBI single off Jose Mesa in the eighth.

Kim walked two, one intentionally, and struck out two. He got little offensive support from his teammates, who have scored only two runs in each of their last four games.

Saenz, batting for Tomko, drove in the go-ahead run against Ramon Ramirez, who had just replaced Kim. Russell Martin singled to chase Kim, then stole second and scored on Saenz's hit.

After the Dodgers grabbed a 1-0 lead on Furcal's leadoff homer in the first inning, Yorvit Torrealba drove in the tying and go-ahead runs for Colorado with RBI singles in the second and fourth.

After being acquired from the Chicago Cubs at the July 31 trade deadline, Maddux pitched six hitless innings in his first game for the Dodgers, in Cincinnati last Thursday. But he was denied a shot at his first career no-hitter when rain delayed the game for 46 minutes before the bottom of the seventh.

Because of the delay, Maddux didn't return to the mound, but still got the win in Los Angeles' 3-0 victory.

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Thursday's game: Dodgers 4, Rockheads 3

Dodgers Back in First Place on Lofton's Walk-off RBI
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On a team saturated with impressive rookies, Kenny Lofton has become an inspiration on and off the field for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Lofton singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Dodgers moved into first place in the NL West, defeating the Colorado Rockies 4-3 Thursday night.

"He's been around long enough to know how to play the game and he's been on teams that have won, so it's nice to have him," Dodgers reliever Brett Tomko said. "He's usually the guy who gets traded for the stretch run. He knows what he needs to do to help the team, whatever it is."

The Dodgers, whose 11-game winning streak ended with a 3-1 loss Wednesday night, are a half-game ahead of San Diego and Arizona.

This is the first time the Dodgers have had sole possession of first place since June 26. They were as many as 7½ games off the pace on July 26 after losing 13 of 14 games following the All-Star break.

Jose Mesa (0-5) gave up a one-out walk to pinch-hitter Julio Lugo and a single to Rafael Furcal before Lofton sliced a 2-0 pitch to left field for the game-winner. Takashi Saito (4-2) got the victory despite giving up the tying run in the ninth.

Dodgers rookie Andre Ethier extended his hitting streak to 14 games with a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth inning against Ray King, after Colorado manager Clint Hurdle brought in the left-hander to replace impressive rookie reliever Manny Corpas.

"We had that inning drawn up as soon as the inning started," Hurdle said. "We were get let Corpas pitch to (Jeff) Kent and have King come in to face Ethier. Ethier hadn't hit a home run all year off a left-hander, and King hadn't given up one to a lefty all year. Obviously, it didn't work -- and it didn't work in the ninth, either."

Kings acknowledged that he made the wrong pitch.

"Tonight was a lesson I learned," King said. "I looked at tape of him, and he's a kid who's diving the whole time, so I threw a fastball away and he beat me. So from now on, no matter how many more times I face him, he's going to have to beat me on a pitch in."

The Rockies made it 4-all in the ninth when Todd Helton tripled over the head of right fielder Jason Repko and continued home when Kent's throw to third skipped into the dugout for an error. The blown save was the first in 13 opportunities for Saito, who replaced the injured Eric Gagne as closer.

For the second time in this four-game series, a Rockies pitcher was ejected after Hurdle removed him from the game. King, who was upset about a previous pitch to Wilson Betemit, held both arms out to the side -- before and after Huddle made the pitching change -- and was tossed by plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt. On Monday night, Sam Holbrook ejected Josh Fogg under the same circumstances.

"I guess I looked at him the wrong way," King said. "I didn't say a word to him. Before that, I asked him, 'Where was that pitch?' and he got all bitter about it. The manager comes out and tells me, 'Don't say a word.' I didn't say anything and I still get tossed."

Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley allowed a run and three hits over five innings, struck out three and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third. All of his six walks came during a span of 10 batters, but none of those baserunners scored.

The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the fifth on Nomar Garciaparra's sacrifice fly, but Colorado tied it in the sixth against reliever Aaron Sele with a two-out RBI double by Sullivan.

Garciaparra, who came in 4-for-20 lifetime against Colorado starter Jason Jennings, singled his first two times up. But in the seventh, he flied out to end the inning after a pair of two-out walks.

Furcal led off the Dodgers' first with a triple and scored on Lofton's groundout. The Rockies tied it in the second when Matt Holliday led off with a drive that struck the right-field pole. It was the 21st homer this season for the first-time All-Star, who ended an eight-game RBI drought.

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Friday's game: Dodgers 3, hated jints 2

Dodgers Nip hated jints via Lugo's Sac Fly
------------------------------------------------

Even when the Dodgers' season seemed to be heading south, Brett Tomko was sure they would turn it around.

"We went through a very trying stretch. And to bounce back the way we have, that's great," Tomko said Friday night after he pitched a perfect eighth inning in Los Angeles' 3-2 victory over the hated jints.

"We could easily have given up and coasted when we were six or seven games back. But we knew that wasn't going to happen. There are too many guys here who wouldn't let that happen."

The Dodgers lost 13 of 14 after the All-Star break and were 7½ games behind division leader San Diego on July 26. Then Los Angeles reeled off an 11-game winning streak. After having that string snapped earlier this week, the Dodgers have won two in a row.

The surge has carried them to a 1½-game lead over San Diego and Arizona, both of whom lost on Friday night.

"We like the way things are going right now," Los Angeles manager Grady Little said.

Mark Hendrickson pitched seven strong innings and Julio Lugo provided the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth to carry the Dodgers past the rival Giants, who have lost three straight and 14 of 17.

Jeff Kent added a solo homer for Los Angeles.

Barry Bonds went 1-for-1, walked three times and singled home the hated jints' second run. He has been stuck for a week on career home run No. 723 in his chase for Hank Aaron's record of 755. The slugger's last homer, his 15th of the year, was Aug. 4 at home against Colorado.

Mike Stanton (3-6) started the eighth for the Giants, faced two batters and gave up hits to both -- a double to J.D. Drew and a single to Andre Ethier, who extended his hitting streak to 15 games.

Lugo followed with his sacrifice fly to deep center off Brian Wilson.

Hendrickson gave up two runs and scattered 10 hits in seven innings. He walked four and struck out three. Tomko (8-6) worked the eighth and Jonathan Broxton pitched the ninth for his second save in four chances.

The Giants stranded nine runners, continuing a trend.

"We had opportunities tonight," said Shea Hillenbrand, who went 0-for-4. "I left five guys on base. I can't speak for the team, but I haven't been doing as well this year.

"It's one of those things I need to work on and continue to get better at. I'm expecting a little bit too much out of myself and pressing too much instead of letting things happen."

Bonds drove in Omar Vizquel from third with a sharp single to left in the fifth inning to tie it at 2. The RBI, Bonds' 49th of the year, gave him 1,902 for his career -- one behind his godfather, Willie Mays, who's No. 7 on the list.

The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead on Kent's 11th home run, leading off the fourth inning against Noah Lowry.

Lowry allowed two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Hendrickson walked Bonds to load the bases in the third after getting ahead of him 0-2. Durham followed with a single that drove in Randy Winn and tied it at 1. Durham also singled after Hendrickson walked Bonds with two outs in the seventh, but Ethier threw Durham out at second trying to stretch his hit into a double.

Nomar Garciaparra's sacrifice fly put the Dodgers up 1-0 in the first inning.

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Saturday's game: Dodgers 6, hated jints 5

Penny Becomes First 13-game Winner in NL as Dodgers Beat the hated jints
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Brad Penny and the Los Angeles Dodgers are enjoying this stretch of their topsy-turvy season.

Penny became the NL's first 13-game winner, recently acquired Wilson Betemit hit a tiebreaking two-run homer, and the Dodgers beat the hated jints 6-5 Saturday.

Rookie James Loney tripled, doubled and scored twice for NL West-leading Los Angeles, which has won 14 of 15 after a 1-13 slide coming out of the All-Star break.

"Everybody was quiet and down before, and now everybody's having fun," Penny said. "We're out there playing like we all thought we could play. You go out there every day expecting to win, and your whole attitude changes.

"This is a huge stretch right here. After we play the Marlins we've got the Giants again and then San Diego and Arizona. So I couldn't think of a better time to start playing this good."

Moises Alou and Omar Vizquel each drove in two runs for San Francisco, which has lost four straight. The last-place Giants are 6½ games behind Los Angeles after falling a season-worst eight games under .500.

Penny (13-5) won his third straight start, allowing four runs -- three earned -- and seven hits over six innings. The right-hander struck out seven and did not walk a batter for the second consecutive outing.

The hated jints closed to 6-5 in the seventh with doubles by pinch-hitter Todd Linden and Vizquel against Giovanni Carrara. Lefty Joe Beimel came in and walked Ray Durham before retiring Barry Bonds on an inning-ending grounder with runners at the corners. The play was made by shortstop Rafael Furcal with the Dodgers playing a three-man shift on the right side of the infield.

Bonds is 1-for-9 lifetime against Beimel -- with a home run.

"I'll take that anytime," the 29-year-old reliever said with a grin. "I knew Durham was hitting pretty well off left-handers this year, and I didn't want to give in to him.

"Barry's one of the greatest hitters of all time -- but at the same time, he's not having the kind of year he's had in the past."

Jonathan Broxton pitched a perfect eighth inning and Takashi Saito worked the ninth for his 13th save in 14 attempts. Steve Finley flied out to the warning track for the second straight time with a runner on base, and then Saito retired Vizquel on a groundout to first base to end it.

San Francisco has dropped 15 of 18 after a season-high five-game winning streak, and won just one of its last 12 on the road. Matt Cain (8-9) allowed six runs and a career-high 10 hits in four-plus innings against a lineup that included three rookies like himself.

Betemit snapped a 4-4 tie in the fifth with his 13th home run and fourth since joining the Dodgers on July 28 in a trade with Atlanta. The drive into the right-field pavilion came on a 3-1 pitch -- Cain's last one of the game.

Trailing 3-0, San Francisco tied it in the fourth on Durham's RBI single and a two-run single by Alou. Sandwiched between those hits was a double by Bonds, who was 1-for-4 and has gone 22 at-bats since his previous home run on Aug. 4 against Colorado.

The Dodgers regained the lead in the bottom half when Loney led off with a double, advanced on Penny's sacrifice bunt and scored on a single by Furcal, who is hitting .365 with runners in scoring position.

"That's the worst feeling you can have -- to sit there and watch the team battle back and get runs for you and then you go back out there and give it back," Cain said. "That's not acceptable. That's terrible. That's probably one of the most upsetting things for me."

The hated jints pulled even again in the fifth, thanks to some typical hustle by the 40-year-old Finley. He hit a two-out grounder to second baseman Julio Lugo, who bobbled the ball for an instant. That's all it took for Finley to beat the throw and stick Lugo with an error. He stole second and scored on a single by Vizquel that extended his hitting streak to 11 games.

It was the first unearned run allowed this season by Penny, who gave up only two in 29 starts last year.

The Dodgers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first on Lugo's RBI double and J.D. Drew's run-scoring single. They made it 3-0 in the second when Loney tripled and scored on a popup by Penny that second baseman Durham lost in the sun.

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Sunday's game: Dodgers 1, hated jints 0

Martin Hits Walk-off Homer Run to Complete Sweep
----------------------------------------------------

Russell Martin homered to lead off the 10th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the hated jints 1-0 on Sunday night after Greg Maddux and Jason Schmidt matched zeros for eight innings.

Martin drove a 1-0 pitch from Chulk (0-1) over the fence in left field for his sixth homer.

Takashi Saito (5-2) intentionally walked Barry Bonds with one out and nobody on in the top of the 10th, then retired Moises Alou and Shea Hillenbrand.

The NL West-leading Dodgers have won 15 of 16 games, making their 1-13 skid after the All-Star break a distant memory. The three-game sweep was their first against the hated jints at Dodger Stadium since September 1989 and it kept their lead over second-place San Diego at 1½ games.

The hated jints have dropped 16 of 19 and 13 of 14 on the road. They are a season-worst nine games under .500, and have slipped 7½ games off the pace.

In a game reminiscent of the classic 1960s duels between the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax and the hated jints' Juan Marichal, Maddux and Schmidt were dominant.

Maddux was at his economical best, throwing just 68 pitches (50 strikes) and retiring his last 22 batters after giving up singles to two of his first three batters. He did not walk a batter. Schmidt gave up five hits, struck out nine and walked one while throwing 115 pitches.

Maddux's string of outs began with Bonds' vicious liner back to the box, which Maddux snared and turned into a double play with Ray Durham unable to get back to first.

Maddux, still stuck on 328 career victories, joined the Dodgers in a July 31 trade with the Chicago Cubs and has allowed only two runs and nine hits over 20 innings.

Bonds was 0-for-3 with a walk, extending his home run drought to 25 at-bats since hitting his 723rd home run on Aug. 4 against Colorado.

The seven-time NL MVP was hitless in three at-bats against Maddux, and is 34-for-123 lifetime against the four-time Cy Young award. This was the first matchup between a pitcher with 300 or more wins and a hitter with 700 or more home runs.

Maddux and Schmidt faced off for the first time since Game 3 of the 2002 NL division series at San Francisco, when Maddux pitched Atlanta to a 10-2 win over the hated jints.

Martin's one-out double in the third was the Dodgers' only hit until the sixth, when Nomar Garciaparra singled with two out and Jeff Kent reached on an infield hit. But Schmidt struck out rookie Andre Ethier for the third straight time. Ethier was 0-for-4, ending his hitting streak at 16 games.

With late-afternoon shadows creeping over the home plate area, the Dodgers had a difficult time catching up to Schmidt's fastball during the first two innings. The right-hander retired the side in order both times and had three strikeouts.

The Dodgers' 15-1 stretch is their third since moving to Los Angeles in 1958

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Monday's game: Dodgers 4, Marlins 2

Garciaparra Homers as Dodgers Win
-----------------------------------

The last time the Dodgers enjoyed a 16-1 stretch, the year was 1953 and the names above the clubhouse lockers belonged to the likes of Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider and Roy Campanella.

It didn't happen again until Monday night -- when Derek Lowe, Nomar Garciaparra and the rest of the contemporary Dodgers made some history of their own.

Garciaparra homered and drove in three runs against Dontrelle Willis, and Los Angeles beat the Florida Marlins 4-2 Monday night for their 16th win in 17 games.

The NL West leaders have won five straight and have their first 16-1 stretch since the franchise relocated from Brooklyn in 1958. They came out of the All-Star break 1-13 before going on this current streak.

"It's pretty amazing, especially having lost 12 out of 13," Lowe said. "I'm not really a history buff, but I wouldn't imagine there had been too many teams that had lost 12 out of 13 and won as many as we have."

Lowe (10-8) allowed a run and four hits over seven innings, striking out two and walking two.

"We had two weeks that were horrific, but we never lost faith in the club and the club never lost faith in themselves," general manager Ned Colletti said. "The end of July was not the time to say `When does '07 start?' I believed and (manager) Grady (Little) believed that there were good players in this room who were all competitive and who all care."

Watching the Dodgers' latest triumph from the other dugout with a great deal of envy was Marlins reliever Matt Herges. The right-hander spent his first three big league seasons with Los Angeles and was on San Francisco when Colletti was the assistant GM there.

"The fact that they brought in Ned Colletti was the best move they've ever made," Herges said. "He really knows what he's doing. He's worked under one of the best general managers in Brian Sabean, and he's a quality individual. I'm a huge fan of Ned's, and I'm sure L.A. believes in him now."

Giovanni Carrara pitched two innings for his first save in two opportunities, giving up a two-out solo homer in the ninth to Miguel Olivo.

Willis (7-10) gave up four runs and seven hits in 6 2-3 innings, striking out nine and walking five. The two-time All-Star also drove in a run with his second career triple.

"We have nothing to hold our heads down about tonight. We left it on the field," Willis said. "They've been very successful, they're playing hot right now, and they're at home. It's just about momentum and doing the right things at the right time."

Willis took a two-hit shutout and a 1-0 lead into the sixth before Julio Lugo beat out an infield hit with one out. Garciaparra drove the next pitch into the pavilion seats in left-center for his 13th home run and a 2-1 lead.

"When a guy is pitching that well, you're not going to get too many opportunities to capitalize on things," Garciaparra said. "I was trying to make contact and keep that inning alive. I was looking for a pitch I could drive. I think what really got us going was Lugo hustling and getting to first."

Willis, who led the majors last season with 22 wins and five shutouts, walked the next two batters, and both advanced on a groundout by Wilson Betemit. The left-hander intentionally walked Martin, then struck out pinch-hitter Olmedo Saenz.

But the Dodgers tacked on two more runs in the seventh with RBI singles by Garciaparra and J.D. Drew, whose hit ended Willis' second career start at Chavez Ravine.

Willis' RBI was his sixth this season and the 24th by Florida pitchers, tying the club record set in 2005. Last season, he led all major league pitchers with 11 hits.

😀 😀

 

[milagros317]

Tuesday's game: Dodgers 4, Marlins 0

Rookie Billingsley Pitches Superbly as Dodgers Win
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The Dodgers are on the club's best run since 1899, and they swear they're not giving it much thought.

"It makes for good reading, it makes for a lot of good conversation for a lot of people," manager Grady Little said after Los Angeles beat the Florida Marlins 4-0 Tuesday night for its sixth straight victory and 17th in 18 games.

"We just feel like we're playing good baseball," added Little, whose team extended its NL West lead to 3½ games over San Diego. "All the components are working very good for us right now."

One of those components, rookie Chad Billingsley, was at his best in the latest victory, allowing three hits over seven innings and striking out a career-high nine. The 22-year-old right-hander is 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA since the All-Star break.

The Dodgers made a winner of Billingsley (4-3) by scoring four times off three relievers in the seventh -- after he was lifted for a pinch-hitter. Kenny Lofton hit a one-out RBI double to snap a scoreless tie.

The 39-year-old Lofton also downplayed the Dodgers' streak, saying: "I think the media puts more into it than we do. We just try to win ballgames."

The last NL team to win 17 of 18 games was the 1986 New York Mets, who went on to win the World Series. No team in franchise history had won 17 of 18 since the Brooklyn Superbas went 20-1 during one stretch in 1899.

"Right now, we really don't think about it," rookie catcher Russell Martin said. "I'm sure at some point we'll look back at it and say, 'Wow, what a stretch.'"

The Dodgers' streak began July 28, after they lost 13 of their first 14 games following the All-Star break. Their lone loss since they turned it around was on Aug. 9, when they were beaten by Colorado 3-1.

Los Angeles starters are 12-1 with a 2.55 ERA in the last 18 games.

"It's hard to visualize any team winning 17 out of 18," said Marlins manager Joe Girardi, whose team is 0-5 against the Dodgers this month, getting outscored 31-9. "But obviously, they've performed at the highest level. It's pretty awesome.

"We had an opportunity to beat them the last two nights and we didn't do it. Tomorrow's a new day, and we'll come out ready."

Billingsley, making his 12th big league start, threw 106 pitches -- 68 for strikes -- and walked only one. He entered having walked 47 in 61 1-3 innings, including six in his previous outing. The only walk he issued was to Joe Borchard with two outs in the seventh.

"I just pounded the strike zone with all my pitches, threw everything for strikes," Billingsley said. "I was just giving the hitters too much credit. The last couple outings, I'd get ahead and just waste pitches. I didn't need to do that.

"I've been battling myself, that's all I can say, instead of believing in what got me here."

Jonathan Broxton and Aaron Sele each worked a hitless inning to complete the Dodgers' seventh shutout this season. The Marlins were blanked for the fifth time.

Florida rookie Anibal Sanchez blanked the Dodgers on three hits over the first six innings. Then came the decisive seventh.

Martin singled off Randy Messenger (1-7) and went to second on pinch-hitter Ramon Martinez's sacrifice before Rafael Furcal drew a walk. Lofton sliced a 1-2 pitch down the left-field line to score Martin.

After Messenger intentionally walked Nomar Garciaparra to load the bases, J.D. Drew hit into a forceout against Taylor Tankersley to drive in Furcal. Jeff Kent and Andre Ethier followed with RBI singles.

Hanley Ramirez singled to start the game, but was thrown out trying to steal by Martin, just the eighth time Ramirez has been caught in 44 attempts. Billingsley retired his next 14 batters before Miguel Olivo and Alfredo Amezaga singled to start the sixth. Billingsley pitched out of trouble by retiring the next three batters -- two on strikeouts.

😀 😀