Andruw Jones... a new LA hero!

It's amazing what is considered "good" for Andruw Jones these days.

All he did last night was hit a grounder up the middle that scored the 2nd run, and then he had a hard slide into 2nd base that broke up a potential double play later in the inning. The result was the LA crowd on their feet giving him a standing ovation on his way to the dugout.

Yes, a ground ball and a slide is as good as it gets for Jones these days.

Nonetheless, that RBI single did score the 2nd run, which would be huge as the Dodgers held on to beat the Braves, 2-1. It's their 4th straight series win, and also means another tie for 1st place in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The real story was the start of Derek Lowe, who, much like Hiroki Kuroda 2 days before, was simply brilliant. This time, Lowe took a perfect game into the 7th inning before Gregor Blanco led off with a sharp liner up the middle. Close again, but not quite perfect.

Instead, it was a dominant start from the get-go, as Lowe finished at 7.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. The only blemish was a hanging breaking ball that Jeff Francoeur properly disposed of in the 8th. Jonathan Broxton relieved him in the 8th and got an out when Russell Martin easily nailed Mark Kotsay trying to steal 2nd. Takashi Saito pitched a perfect 9th for the save, his 17th.

The Dodgers still can't score to save their lives, but this is about as good of starting pitching as they can possibly ask for. That's good to see considering they're all just buying time until Rafael Furcal is healthy (if that will ever happen). The pitching is clicking on all cylinders right now.

Being 1 game under .500 and in a tie for 1st place is pretty much laughable, but the good news is that they've taken 9 of the last 14 to earn their way back up top. With Arizona's pitching, it'll still be tough to get the lead and keep it, but it's very possible now. The rest of the division certainly isn't getting blown out of the water, as none of them are more than 10 games out, but they also don't do themselves any favors. It's still wide open.

Chan Ho Park gets another start tonight while Brad Penny is still out. That's a good thing considering Park's ERA is 2.36. The Florida Marlins are in town for 4 to close out the first half. The Marlins are only 2 games out in the NL East, so it's a big series for both teams.