4 up with 4 to go

The time for celebrating is near.

Thanks to another huge output in 1 innings (this time 6 in the 8th), the Dodgers easily handled the San Diego Padres last night, 12-4. With the win and the loss by the Arizona Diamondbacks (thanks, St. Louis), it's now a 4 game lead in the NL West as 4 games remain.

Needless to say, the odds of winning the division have just shot up.

Despite the big run differential, it was the Padres who struck first for 2 runs in the 4th on a double by Ardian Gonzalez and single by Nick Hundley. Needing a response, the Dodgers did just that in the bottom of the frame. Nomar Garciaparra led off with a long homer to left, his 2nd in as many games to go along with 5 RBI's. Back-to-back walks to Casey Blake and Blake DeWitt put 2 more on, and Matt Kemp singled home Blake with 2 down to knot the game at 2.

From there, the Padres didn't stand much of a chance. In the 5th, Andre Ethier walked, and Nomar came through with another big hit, which was an RBI double. Angel Berroa's sacrifice plated Nomar, and it was 4-2. The Padres cut the lead to 4-3 on Chase Headley's double to keep the game close.

Manny Ramirez stroked a 2-run homer in the 6th, and that would be all the Dodgers needed on this night. The 8th is when 6 more runs were tacked on, and here's how the runs were scored: single by Ethier, double by Loney to score 2, double by Chin-lung Hu (yes, really!), single by Berroa, and single by Kemp. Game, set, and match.

Deep inside the box score is another great sign. After giving up a single and wild pitch to start the 9th, Scott Proctor struck out the side. He's given up 0 runs in 6.1 IP since returning from injuries - all great numbers needed for the postseason.

Clayton Kershaw was the starter, and he wasn't too bad I guess, going 5.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. It will be interesting to see what role he'll play should the Dodgers get into October. Does the organization trust starting a 20-year-old on such a big stage? I'm not so sure. If this is his last start, a 3-0 record and 3.58 ERA in September shows that he'll be a star in no time.

So now, the Dodgers would have to suffer the collapse of all collapses to blow this thing. The DBacks are still in St. Louis for an afternoon game, so the ideal situation would be for a Cardinals win so the Dodgers are playing for kicks tonight. Over there, it's Doug Davis vs. Joel Pineiro.

In LA, it's Greg Maddux vs. Jake Peavy. Peavy has just owned LA his whole career, so winning will be tough, even with the bats swinging well the last 2 game. It would be great to see the old Mad Dog return tonight, much like in Colorado recently.