No stopping Ethier as Dodgers increase lead

Whatever Andre Ethier is drinking these days, I hope he has plenty more of it. In the month of September, there isn't another player in the Majors playing as well as he is.

Ethier drove in 4 of LA's 6 runs, and Manny Ramirez hit a solo homer to give the Dodgers the victory over the San Diego Padres, 6-2. The San Francisco Giants complied and beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, so the lead in the NL West has been upped to 2.5 games.

For the first half of the game, it was the Padres who were slowly building a lead. It wasn't much of one, but it was 2-0 after 5 innings. The Dodgers only managed 3 hits during that span, so it sure looked as if Monday's game was being carried over.

In the 6th, the momentum started to turn. Brian Giles led off with a double and went to 3rd on a sacrifice bunt. Kevin Kouzmanoff grounded out, and after an intentional pass to Adrian Gonzalez, Chase Headley grounded out to end it. Right away, Manny hit a laser homer to left, and the lead was slashed to 2-1.

Following a scoreless 7th, the Dodgers had their top of the order due up in the 8th. Russell Martin didn't waste any time by doubling, and Ethier drove him in with a triple. Manny then hit a sac-fly RBI, and the Dodgers grabbed the lead at 3-2.

Joe Beimel and Cory Wade kept the Pads in check in the bottom of the 8th, and the Dodgers went to work again in the 9th. Blake DeWitt and Matt Kemp singled, and Martin drew a walk. With 2 outs, Ethier continued his unbelievable play by hitting a bases clearing double to blow the game open. Jonathan Broxton finished things off for the win.

It was another huge night for the Dodgers, thanks in large part to Ethier, who pretty much put this team on his shoulders to win. Hiroki Kuroda wiggled out of trouble all night to finish at 6 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. 11 runners is way too much, but he still found a way to get the job done.

One person who did not get the job done is Andruw Jones. Playing in his first game since August 9, he was 0-4 with 2 K's. He sucks.

Now back to the positive, and that's the Dodgers ability to take advantage of the DBacks' recent futility. It can certainly continue tonight, as Derek Lowe takes the mound. He'll be opposed by Shawn Estes (remember him?), who is coming off a solid start in a win at Milwaukee. There's no Jake Peavy, so the Dodgers dodged a bullet there. Do you feel badly about that? Nah, neither do I.