Ethier's 3 homers breaks power slump

Andre Ethier hasn't hit much of anything lately. Coming into Friday night's game, his last home run was on June 9 against the Padres, in which he hit two. Since then, he only has two extra-base hits.

Apparently seeing the Mariners in town was all it took to put an emphatic end to the power outage.

Ethier cranked three homers, all of them no-doubters, to help lift the Dodgers to an 8-2 win. With the win, the Dodgers have still not had a three-game losing streak this season.

It all started in the second. Casey Blake doubled to lead off, and James Loney followed with a single. After an out, Ethier hit a three-run shot to right field, and it was 3-0.

Jose Lopez did his best to keep the Mariners in the game, as he hit a couple of RBI singles, one in the fourth and the other in the sixth. Too bad it little to dent the Dodgers' lead.

Up 3-1 now, Casey Blake hit a solo home run to lead off the fourth. That's his 11th of the year, and first since June 14. Like Ethier, he too has suffered a power slump. The difference is that he's been getting hits anyway, as his average starting the month was .300, and is now .301.

Ethier's night would only get bigger in the sixth. He absolutely crushed one into the stands in right, a two-run shot that made it 7-2. To top it off, he hit another one out in the eighth, this one a solo shot to close the scoring.

As I was watching the Dodgers-White Sox game the other day, I believe it was Steve Lyons who pointed out that Ethier has way too good a swing to be in such a slump. Last night, he showed how good he can be when he's on. He'll never be a huge home run threat, but he certainly can pack a punch. With Manny Ramirez's impending return, getting a guy like Ethier back on track will only make the offense a much bigger threat.

Lost in all of the Ethier hype was the great night by Clayton Kershaw. He lasted six innings, giving up two runs, five hits, one walk, and eight strikeouts. His stuff was electric, as the Mariners never looked comfortable. Oh, and he also hit an RBI single. I'd say it was a pretty good night.

Eric Milton has been activated off the DL and will start for the first time since June 5. He's gotten the job done with an ERA of 2.89, but his 1.55 WHIP means that he's playing with fire way too much. We'll see if he can figure that out today.