Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Four solo shots carries Dodgers past Padres

The Dodgers found a new way to put runs on the board Tuesday night - the long ball. In a pretty shocking sight, they let loose on four home runs, which was enough to carry them past the Padres, 6-4.

With Chad Billingsley struggling in the first inning by giving up four hits and two runs, the offense needed to respond. Andre Ethier just came off his two walk-off victories this past weekend against the Phillies, and he continued the hot streak with a solo homer to make it 2-1.

Matt Kemp tied the game up at two in the second with an RBI single. He then hit one out in the fifth to tie the game at three. On the night, he was 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk. He was also hitting in the #8 spot.

It's a good sign that he had four good at-bats, because being dropped way down in the order to eighth is something that shouldn't happen. Don't get me wrong - I don't disagree with the move at all. But someone with his makeup should be hitting in the middle of the order, not down low.

Rewind a bit to the third, and Ethier again hit a solo homer. That's his fourth multi-homer game this season, and also was his fifth jack in seven games. He was pretty much lost for many games before that, so that's another good sign for a young player.

Along with Kemp's homer in the fifth was Orlando Hudson's, bringing the total up to four. That made the score 5-3. Another run was tacked on in the eighth on an RBI single by Rafael Furcal.

Jonathan Broxton came on in the ninth and did the unthinkable... he gave up a run at home. Granted, it was pretty meaningless. After a strikeout and a groundout, the other Tony Gwynn walked and went to second on fielder's indifference. That little David Eckstein singled to make it 6-4. Brian Giles struck out looking to end it, and Broxton's now up to 14 saves.

The power surge was fun to see, but the funny part was that they were all solo home runs. So yes, power surge, but with four homers, normally you'd like to see more than four runs. But hey, with the trouble they've had lately pushing runs across, they'll gladly take it.

At 40-20 and an 8 1/2 game lead over the Giants in the NL West, the Dodgers will send Clayton Kershaw to the mound tonight. By my count, he's had four good starts in a row, or good enough to give the Dodgers a chance to win. Still, he needs to cut down from walking too many guys in order to have more success. Let's hope that happens tonight.

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