John Ely posted his second straight good start, and offense backed him up as the Dodgers rolled over the Diamondbacks, 13-3. The win gave Ely his first win in the bigs after three starts.
Ely and Dan Haren both put up blanks the first three innings. Haren was especially impressive as he struck out the side in each inning. Ely countered with pop-ups and groundouts.
The Dodgers got on the board in the fourth. James Loney doubled with one down, and he scored on Casey Blake's RBI double to center. Ronnie Belliard followed with an RBI double of his own, and it was 2-0.
Another run was tacked on in the sixth. Manny Ramirez and Loney both singled to open the inning. Blake sacrificed them over to scoring position, and Belliard got another RBI with a single to push the lead to 3-0. An RBI double by Andre Ethier in the seventh made it 7-0.
Ely was in complete control at this point, as he got through the first six innings without a serious scoring threat. But, singles by Mark Reynolds and Stephen Drew to start the seventh chased him. Jeff Weaver came in, and Chris Young hit an RBI single, making it 4-1.
With two down, George Sherrill was given a big chance to retire Kelly Johnson... only to fail again as Johnson hit a two-run double, and it was 4-3. Ramon Ortiz got Connor Jackson grounding out to end the inning.
A close, one-run game was quickly blown completely open in the eighth by the Dodgers, as they put up a seven spot. The big blow was Russell Martin's three-run jack. Loney added an RBI single, Belliard a bases loaded walk, and Jamey Carroll a two-run single. Just like that, the Dodgers led 11-3.
The late onslaught continued in the ninth on a sac-fly RBI by Reed Johnson and an RBI double by Loney.
The beginning of the game was rough, as the offense looked helpless against Haren. But, patience won out, as they just crushed anything thrown their way as the game progressed. Martin ended 3-for-6 with a homer and three RBIs, Belliard 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and Loney 4-for-6 with two doubles and two RBIs. Every starter except Ely had a hit.
While the offense was fun to watch, the shinning light for Dodger fans was Ely's start. He lasted six innings for six hits, two runs, no walks, and six strikeouts. His great control was the key. In fact, he has 17 strikeouts and three walks on the season. Hopefully the Dodgers have found their fourth starter for the rest of the season.
The other positive sign is that this game marked three straight good starts from Clayton Kershaw, Chad Billingsley, and Ely. If the Dodgers are going anywhere this season, it's going to be up to those guys to pitch like they're capable of. Hiroki Kuroda has proved he can be consistent, now the others need to build on their positive starts.
After two convincing wins for the Dodgers, it's up to Kuroda to get the sweep. A win would bring them back to .500. It's nothing to brag about, but obviously better than where they were at a week ago (11-16).
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