Randy Wolf pitched six strong innings against his former club, and the bats gathered 14 hits in an easy win over the Phillies, 9-2. The win gives the Dodgers a 23-12 record, once again the best in all of baseball. It also denied 46-year-old Jamie Moyer of his 250th career win. So take that, old man!
Wolf hasn't gotten a win since Easter Sunday, but that was mostly because his team didn't give him much support. He started last Thursday against the Nationals (you may remember that day for some guy getting suspended), and the Dodgers blew a 6-0 lead and lost, 11-9. Today, the offense would make sure no such thing like that would happen again.
The Phillies had the lead in the early going on a homer by Jimmy Rollins. At 1-0 going into the fifth, the Dodgers went crazy. Rafael Furcal busted out of a funk with a double. He scored on Orlando Hudson's double to even it up.
Following a groundout by Andre Ethier and a walk to Russell Martin, James Loney lifted a high fly ball to right. Jayson Werth kept going back, and back, and back, until he started running another direction. But it didn't matter as the ball finally sailed over the wall for a three-run shot.
Consecutive singles by Matt Kemp and Casey Blake followed Loney's first homer of the season. Wolf laid down a great bunt in which he was just out at first. Give Kemp a ton of credit for what he did next, as he hustled around third and slid perfectly around Carlos Ruiz's tag for the 5-1 lead. In all, it was five runs on five hits.
Two more runs were added in the sixth on an RBI single by Loney and a sac-fly RBI by Blake. It wasn't exactly a prototypical sacrifice fly, as he fouled out to first. But, with Ryan Howard ranging far back and leaning into the crowd, Martin scurried his way home. Another great example of baserunning and manufacturing runs.
For good measure, Blake added a two-run shot in the ninth. The big night at the plate was more than enough for Wolf, who improved to 2-1 by going 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. With an ERA at 2.77, he's quietly (very quietly it seems) putting together an All-Star type of season. He's really stabilized a staff that needed someone to be relied upon for innings.
In looking at the stats, it's easy to see why the Dodgers put up nine runs. The top of the order of Juan Pierre, Furcal, and Hudson went 6-13 with four doubles, three runs, and two stolen bases. While Pierre and Hudson continue to impress, it was really good to see Raffy bust out. At .244, he's looking at any reason for hope, and today was it.
Both teams have had their fun in the last two games, starting with Werth's four steals a night ago, and 14 hits from the Dodgers tonight. Tomorrow's game will be great to watch. Chad Billingsley will take on Cole Hamels in a matchup of two of the game's brightest young stars. It's an afternoon start, so tape it if you can't watch.
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