Manny Ramirez conquered perhaps the hardest ballpark in baseball to hit home runs by blasting 2 to lift the Dodgers in Petco Park, 7-2. The homers were measured at 435 feet and 405 feet to the deepest part of the park in center field.
Earlier in the day, the Arizona Diamondbacks played a typical game that summed up their season. They were losing 2-1 in the 9th when they scored twice off of Giants closer Brian Wilson. How did they respond to their new lead? By giving it right back as Brandon Lyon was shelled, and the Giants won, 4-3. All of that means the Dodgers are now up 3.5 games in the NL West.
The Dodgers went down in order to begin the game, then the Padres got one on Kevin Kouzmanoff's RBI groundout to score Brian Giles. Much like the night before, the Dodgers found themselves in a brief hole, but were more than ready to battle back.
It all started in the 2nd. James Loney hit a solo shot with 1 out, his 12th and first since August 27. Matt Kemp walked, and Blake DeWitt doubled him home for the lead at 2-1. With 2 outs, Shawn Estes issued a horrible walk to Derek Lowe, which set the stage for Russell Martin's RBI single, scoring DeWitt and pushing the lead to 3-1.
From there, the Padres never were a serious threat, mostly because of their inability to take advantage of men on base. Sounds an awful lot like the Dodgers for much of the season, but the difference is that now they are coming through. It's amazing what a few hits with RISP can do.
The rest of the game was the Manny Show, as he hit 2, 2-run home runs, scoring Andre Ethier both times. Ethier had singled ahead of him to finish 2-4, and getting his average to .301. For a guy hitting .278 at the start of September, he's sure on an incredible run. I hope he doesn't burn himself out. He's played out of his mind lately.
Lowe gave another great start, which is no surprise. I had my fun ripping his inconsistency at the start of the year, but I'll be the first to admit that he's been fantastic this year. Sure, he'll have his occasional hiccup, but for a guy who had a 4.10 ERA at the start of August to a 3.48 ERA now, he's more than proven his value. I guess enjoy it while it lasts, because everything I read about him resigning appears to be unlikely.
The Dodgers return to Colorado on Friday, and we all know those games are an adventure to say the least. The Rockies were making a small push to get back in the NL West race, but at 8 games back because of poor play lately, that's pretty much squashed. Chad Billingsley goes in the first game against Jeff Francis, who has finally settled down lately to pitch very well.
The DBacks host the Cincinnati Reds for 3 on Friday as well. The Reds are terrible, but at least Edinson Volquez goes on Saturday, so hopefully that's one win. No matter what, the Dodgers will come out of this still in first place, but it could be as large as 6.5 games or as little as .5. I like the former much better.
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