Dodgers win behind wild 2nd inning

It's safe to say that it would be hard to match the craziness of the second inning in Tuesday night's game.

The Dodgers took six walks - yes, SIX walks in one inning - and Andre Ethier belted a grand slam to post eight runs, and they made that hold up in beating the Padres, 8-5. With the Rockies' loss in Arizona, the Dodgers have third place all to themselves in the NL West.

Padres' starter Tim Stauffer entered this game with a 3.42 ERA, so it's not like the Dodgers expected to be handed walk after walk all in the same inning. Yet in the second, Stauffer must've felt like he would never get off the mound. That has to be a pretty lowly feeling.

Ethier started it all off with a single. Aaron Miles took a walk, and A.J. Ellis struck out for one down. Jamey Carroll walked to load the bases, which led to Hikoki Kuroda and his .098 average also walking to force in a run. Justin Seller lifted a sac-fly RBI to center, and it was 2-0.

Needing only one more out, Stauffer instead issued a walk to James Loney to load the bases again. Matt Kemp and Juan Rivera didn't need to take the bat off their shoulders, as their walks brought home two more runs to make it 4-0.

That finally meant the end of the night for Stauffer, as Anthony Bass relieved to pitch to Ethier, who originally led off the inning. On the first pitch he saw, Ethier blasted a grand slam to right, giving the Dodgers a huge 8-0 lead already. It was Ethier's 11th homer of the year, and his first since July 25.

Kuroda must have thought he was dreaming, because he definitely wasn't used to pitching with a big lead, let alone any lead at all. He got through the opening five frames with ease as the Dodgers looked like they would easily win.

In the sixth, however, Kuroda fell victim to the longball himself. With one out, Jason Bartlett singled and Jesus Guzman doubled for runners in scoring position. Kyle Blanks, about the only true power threat on the team, hit a three-run homer to make it 8-3. Orlando Hudson has played well against his former team, and he made it back-to-back with a solo shot, and suddenly it was 8-4.

Matt Guerrier took over in the seventh, and he got the first couple of outs on grounders. But, a walk to Bartlett would hurt, as Guzman's RBI double made the game manageable for the Padres at 8-5. Blanks struck out for the final out.

The 8-9 combination of Kenley Jansen and Javy Guerra got the job done to finish it off. Jansen allowed one walk in the eighth while gathering two strikeouts. Andy Parrino greeted Guerra with a leadoff double in the ninth, but could get no further than third as Guerra collected his 12th save.

Kuroda won his fourth straight start, and five of this last six, by going six innings for seven hits, four runs, two walks, and three strikeouts. Obviously, the sixth inning hurt his overall numbers, as he was cruising before that.

It's kind of a strange feeling when pitching with such a big lead. You know you have to throw strikes, so sometimes you become too worried about not walking batters. Kuroda admitted after the game that he fell victim to that. Still, his ERA stands at 3.03, so we all see how effective he's been this season.

The offense did all of their work in the second, as they were held off the board the rest of the way. They scored eight runs on only three hits, but a whopping six walks. Wow. 13 men went to the plate, and each player in the lineup got on base. I'd say that was their best inning of the year.

Ethier has certainly been involved in some controversy lately, as it sure doesn't appear that he's on the same page with Don Mattingly. In the four starts he's received during this homestand, he's 8-for-15 with three runs, a double, a grand slam, and four RBIs. That's the guy we got used to seeing the last few years. Maybe his knee injury has caused him to regress some this year, but when he swings like that, the offense is so much better. Let's see how he finishes the last month of the season.

The Dodgers will look for the sweep with a Wednesday afternoon start. Ted Lilly takes the mound looking for his ninth win. After the game, the Dodgers will travel to Pittsburgh for a makeup game on Thursday, then play three in Atlanta, four in Washington (including the returning Stephen Strasburg), and three in San Francisco. Add it all up, and it's 11 games in 11 days away from home.