One day after taking a rest, James Loney was back in action today, powering the Dodgers to a big win. His single in the 5th tied the game at 1, and solo home run in the 7th gave the Dodgers the cushion to pick up the win, 3-1.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are playing against the San Diego Padres later tonight, so the lead in NL West for them is 1.5 games.
The game turned out to be a pitcher's duel, which I guess is not too surprising considering the early afternoon start. I knew Derek Lowe would be up to the occasion, but I didn't expect the Rockies' Jorge De La Rosa to be so good. Jeff Kent got the day off, and considering how well he's hit lately (just don't let Vin Scully tell him that), De La Rosa got a bit of a break there.
The game didn't start off so hot for LA, as Matt Holliday's sac-fly RBI put them on the board. Seeing as how the Rockies had already taken the first 2 games, I already was getting nervous that this series was about to turn into a giant disaster.
Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that the Rockies scored first. The Dodgers put up the first 3 runs last night and took home a big, fat L. Today, the situation was a bit reversed, thankfully.
It wasn't easy though, as the Dodgers' first hit was also their first run, and it took until the 4th inning to do so. Manny Ramirez reached on Ian Stewart's error and then stole 2nd. Loney stepped up and hit a single to left to knot the game at 1.
The Dodgers took the lead in the 5th thanks to Andre Ethier (you know, that guy that was benched last night after scorching the ball recently). With 2 outs, Matt Kemp doubled. Ethier hit a long single to score him, but was thrown out trying to get to 2nd. Still, the damage was done, and the Dodgers had the lead at 2-1.
That would be more than enough for Lowe, as he was cruising yet again. He went 6.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. His record is now even up at 10 with a 3.89 ERA. Since the start of June, he has been absolutely fantastic. Let's all hope and pray that Good Lowe stays and Bad Lowe is long gone.
Loney padded the lead a bit with a solo shot that just cleared the wall in right in the 7th. Hong-Chih Kuo relieved Lowe in the 7th with 1 down and allowed a double to Clint Barmes for runners on 2nd and 3rd. He got Willie Taveras to foul out to Loney at 1st to end the threat.
Jonathan Broxton gave up a double on his first pitch to Stewart, then struck out the side. That's now his 10th save for the season. Good to see him bounce back from surrendering the lead last night.
The homestand is now over, and the final tally is quite shinny: 4-0 vs. the Phillies, 2-1 vs. the Brewers, and 1-2 vs. the Rockies. That would be 7-3 overall. Arizona has been on a roll lately as well, so it's good the Dodgers are keeping up.
Greg Maddux will make his first start as a Dodger on Friday night in Philadelphia. We all know the last time these 2 teams met... so I'm sure the Phillies will be more prepared this time around. This will be a fun game to watch.
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