Offense bails out the pitching

Wait... what?

You read it right. On a night the pitching gave up nine runs on 14 hits, it was the Dodgers' offense that pounded the Phillies to the tune of a 15-9 win. The 15 runs are the most they've scored all season.

The Dodgers scored in every inning but three, and were never really threatened throughout. It started in the first. Scott Podsednik singled leading off and went to second on Ryan Theriot's groundout. Andre Ethier had a huge night, one that brought flashbacks to the start of the season, and he had an RBI single for the 1-0 lead.

After both teams traded double play balls in the second, the Dodgers bumped their lead up in the third. Theriot reached on a bunt with one down. Ethier hit an RBI double to make it 2-0. James Loney walked and Casey Blake grounded into a fielder's choice. With runners on the corners, Jay Gibbons hit an RBI single, making it 3-0.

Small ball brought the Dodgers a big lead in the fourth. Brad Ausmus singled to start. Vicente Padilla reached on an error by Jimmy Rollins to put two on. The bases then became loaded on Podsednik's single. Theriot produced a run with a good at-bat on a sacrifice fly, and it was 4-0.

Kyle Kendrick got the hook and Antonio Bastardo came in. What followed were three straight RBI singles by Ethier, Loney, and Blake, and just like that it was 7-0. On the whole, the Dodgers had five singles to keep the runners moving.

From there both teams found ways to score, but with the Dodgers up by so much, it hardly mattered. Padilla, however, didn't have his best outing. His own wildness hurt him a bit, as two walks led to a run on a Domonic Brown sac-fly RBI in the fourth.

About the only time the Phils put up somewhat of a threat was in the fifth. Placido Palanco had an RBI groundout to make it 7-2. Ross Gload had a good night, and it started with a two-run homer to put the score at 7-4.

The Dodgers got those runs right back and then some in the sixth. Theriot singled and stole second. Ethier walked, and Loney hit an RBI double. Blake had a sac-fly RBI to make it 9-4. Gibbons hit his first home run in Dodger blue, a two-run shot, and the lead was stretched to 11-4.

The rest of the game featured both teams adding more runs in quite the offensive display. The Phillies got a solo homer from Brown and another two-run shot by Gload off of the bullpen.

Matt Kemp chipped into the scoring by pinch-hitting in the seventh. With Theriot and Loney on and two outs, Kemp hit a two-run single to run the score up to 13-5. Blake added a two-run homer in the ninth to round out the scoring for the Dodgers.

The bottom of the ninth should have been easy, but it wasn't. Joe Torre tried to let George Sherrill finish it off, so of course it didn't work. Rollins singled leading off, and two outs later, Raul Ibanez did the same. That brought in Octavio Dotel, who gave up a two-run double to Brown. Cole Hamels (yes, the pitcher) pinch-hit and flew out to end the game.

There was a lot of good in this game, as the Dodgers chose a great time to put together their biggest offensive output of the season. This was their first game in Philly since getting smoked in Game 5 of the NLCS last season, so it was good to get some bad memories out of their systems. Plus there's that whole playoff spot thing they're trying to get.

The pessimist side of me is disappointed that they gave up nine runs and kept the game going much longer than it should have. Padilla earned the win, but was just so-so. He lasted five innings for six hits, four runs, two walks, and two strikeouts.

The bullpen wasn't much better. Ronald Belisario made his first appearance since June 29 and gave up a run in an inning. Carlos Monasterios went 1 2/3 innings, giving up two runs. Sherrill went an inning for a run, and Dotel gave up a double and a walk before getting the last out.

It wasn't the prettiest game in the world, but the Dodgers have to be thrilled to watch their bats break out in a big way. The top six in the order had multi-hits. Ethier was awesome, going 4-for-4 with four runs and three RBIs. Blake and Gibbons homered. Theriot had three hits and three runs; Loney had two hits and two runs.

I thought one of the most interesting aspects of this game was Torre's decision not to start Kemp. Here was a big game to start a big roadtrip for the Dodgers, and there was Kemp sitting it out. It was a clear message to Kemp that he needs to start producing much more to be trusted. If not, Torre won't be afraid to let him ride the pine.

Tuesday was a great start, now the Dodgers need to string together more wins. Chad Billingsley will take on new Phillie Roy Oswalt on Wednesday. A win over a great pitcher in Oswalt would be a huge step forward.