Loney singles home a sweep

One day after pounding the Colorado Rockies from the 1st inning, the Dodgers had to work extras to get the job done.

Fortunately for them, they were able to come through in the clutch, something that has plagued them all season long. James Loney's RBI-single with 1 down in the 10th scored Rafael Furcal to get the duke, 3-2. It's the first sweep of the season for the Dodgers, against the defending NL champions no less.

Last week at this time, the Dodgers scored 3 total runs in a 3-game sweep in Atlanta and looked like the worst team on Earth. Well, that's probably because they were the worst team on Earth. After splitting in Cincinnati and home against Arizona, they welcomed the Rockies to Chavez Ravine in a battle between 2 struggling teams. I'm thankful to say that the Dodgers were the ones that left feeling much better about themselves.

The Dodgers got the scoring started in the bottom of the 4th by scoring 2 runs all with 2 outs (did I just say that?). Blake DeWitt tripled, and after Chin-lung Hu was intentionally walked, Esteban Loaiza came through with a run scoring single. Furcal added 1 next for a 2-0 lead.

The lead would be short-lived when the Rocks used a Willy Taveras double and Todd Helton single the very next inning to even the game at 2. That would be the end of the scoring until the 10th.

Jeff Francis had his 2nd good start in 5 tries by giving up only the 2 runs in 7 innings. The Dodgers did have their chances against him at various times, but they left 10 on base. Shockingly (sarcasm indeed), Andruw Jones left 3 of those with 2 outs. He went 0-4 with 3 K's and continues to prove his case of being the worst free agent signing in baseball. I'm trying to find new, creative words to describe how much he sucks but the well has run dry. That's all I've got to say about that.

Esteban Loazia was rewarded with the start a couple of days ago, and made the most out of it. In addition to his RBI-single, he went 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Very efficient day for him. He threw strikes and made the Rockies beat them with their bats, which didn't happen. For the #5 spot in the rotation, that's all you can ask for.

Much like the last series against the Arizona Diamondbacks was important, this was as well. They can look back at those 2 series and be very pleased by going 4-1. With the D-Backs playing the best ball in the Majors, maybe being 6 games back at this point isn't so bad after all. True, it could be better, but they are now in 2nd place and can look to build on this recent momentum.

After an off day Monday, the Dodgers will be in Florida for 3 starting Tuesday. The Marlins are one of the more surprising teams in baseball with a 15-10 record, good for 1st in the tough NL East. That won't last forever, but it's fun to see them play so well for now. Even without Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, they keep plugging away and winning. Derek Lowe will be given the ball in Game #1.