Casey Blake and Matt Kemp hit homers, giving the Dodgers enough runs to make up for a shaky bullpen to down the Tigers, 6-4. That's now 12 wins in the last 13 games.
Rookie John Ely got the start, and he certainly had his fare share of nervous moments in the first. Ramon Santiago doubled with one out and then advanced to third on Kemp's fielding error. An RBI single by Magglio Ordonez made it 1-0.
Miguel Cabrera then doubled to put two runners on. Brennan Boesch began his big day by hitting an RBI groundout to go up 2-0. Brandon Inge then walked, but Gerald Laird flew out to end the threat.
Thankfully for Ely, that was as much trouble as he would get in. He would eventually earn the win by lasting six innings for eight hits, two runs, one walk, and three strikeouts. He's now 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA in what is quickly turning into quite the impressive season.
The Dodgers started chipping away at the small deficit in the first. Russell Martin hit leadoff and walked. Xavier Paul got another start in right and reached on a bunt single, and Martin advanced to third on Cabrera's error. A sac-fly RBI by Manny Ramirez made it 2-1.
The game was then tied in the second when Blake hit a leadoff homer. It was his sixth of the season, part of his 3-for-4 day. His average is now up to .273 after being as low as .233 on May 17.
In the fifth, the Dodgers took the lead for good. Kemp doubled to start things off. James Loney hit an RBI single to go up 3-2. Blake singled to put a couple on, and Blake DeWitt hit a two-run triple to make it 5-2. Kemp's solo shot the next inning pushed the lead to 6-2.
Hong-Chih Kuo came on in the seventh after Ely gave up a single to Austin Jackson. After two quick outs, Blake committed an error to put a couple on, then Ordonez walked. In a big spot, Cabrera grounded back to Kuo to squash a potentially big inning.
Ramon Troncoso was then given the ball, and boy did things get scary all over. First, Boesch hit a solo homer to cut the lead to 6-3. With two outs, Jackson was then beaned right in the front of his helmet on a fastball. It looked and sounded pretty bad, but Jackson was able to walk off on his own, obviously a good sight. Jeff Weaver got Ryan Raburn to fly out for the last out.
Next up was Jonathan Broxton, and he had to scratch and claw for his 10th save. Two singles by Johnny Damon and Santiago greeted him. Alex Avilia struck out, and Blake made a great diving stop to force Santiago out at second off of Cabrera's bat. Boesch then hit an RBI ground rule double to right, and it was 6-4. Inge struck out looking with two runners on to end the game.
While the end of the game certainly had its moments, the Dodgers still came away with the W. It's never good to see someone getting clunked in the head, so we can only hope Jackson doesn't miss an extended amount of time. Good thing it got part of his helmet and not the exposed part of his face.
In addition to another win, more good news came in that Rafael Furcal could be activated for Sunday's game, or Tuesday in Chicago at the latest. Then again, we heard something similar about a week ago, and it never happened. Getting Raffy back on top of the lineup will be fun to watch. But, let's not forget about the great job Jamey Carroll has done in his absence.
The Dodgers will go for the sweep today. Hiroki Kuroda will look to get his sixth win, which would put him among the league leaders in that category.
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