The Dodgers easily disposed of the Astros on Tuesday night 7-3 to complete the two-game sweep and get their ninth straight win. They're now only a game back of the Padres, with whom they welcome to Dodger Stadium for two starting tonight.
With news that Andre Ethier could be out up to six weeks with a broken pinkie, the offense still started off hot. It all started with two outs on a walk to Manny Ramirez. Matt Kemp hit a ground rule double for two on.
James Loney took advantage of two men in scoring position with a two-run single. Loney then stole second and scored on Casey Blake's RBI single, making it 3-0.
Hiroki Kuroda eventually got the win, but wasn't exactly as sharp as he normally is. Carlos Lee cut the lead to 3-1 with a solo homer to lead off the second.
Much like the Dodgers a couple inning earlier, the Astros put together a two out rally in the third. Singles by Michael Bourn and Jeff Keppinger put two on, and a walk to Lance Berkman loaded the bases. Lee struck again, hitting a two-run single to tie the game at 3-3. The bases actually got loaded again, but a groundout from Pedro Feliz ended it.
The Dodgers got one back in the fourth. Loney walked to lead off, and Blake singled for runners on the corners. Blake DeWitt struck out, but Jamey Carroll hit a sac-fly RBI to make it 4-3.
From there, the Dodgers took their lead and never looked back. Manny got in on the fun in the fifth. With Kuroda on from a walk and Russell Martin from a single, Manny plated them both with a two-run single. The runners were in scoring position thanks to a nice sacrifice bunt from Xavier Paul, who made the start in left.
Casey Blake continued his recent resurgence with a solo home run in the eighth, capping the scoring at 7-3. Blake hadn't hit one since his two homer day against the Nationals on April 24, so maybe he's starting to pick it up again.
Kuroda did enough to push his record to 5-1. He lasted six innings for seven hits, three runs, one walk, and two strikeouts. Not dominating, but still put the Dodgers in a position to win.
The bullpen was flawless, which is quickly becoming the norm after a rocky start to the season. Ronald Belisario, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Ramon Troncoso went three innings for one hit and no runs. That bad start looks like a distant memory now.
Beating the Astros is certainly nothing to brag about these days. They're just plain awful. Their veterans look older everyday, and their starting rotation (minus Roy Oswalt) is really bad. I'm not sure where they go from here but I wouldn't be shocked to see guys like Berkman, Lee, and Oswalt moved. It can't hurt to press the reset button.
As the Dodgers, they took care of business these last two days. Now they have fate in their own hands the next couple of nights. The Padres got swept by the Dodgers this past weekend, then split a couple against the Giants. They're still the biggest surprise in baseball at 23-16.
Winning a 10th straight game won't be easy as Ramon Ortiz gets another spot start. He actually wasn't halfway bad last game, giving up three runs in four innings against these same Padres. He'll be opposed by Jon Garland, who's been awesome thus far at 4-2 with a 1.88 ERA.
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