Randy Wolf pitched seven strong innings to get his 100th career win, as the Dodgers beat the Padres, 7-4. The lead in the NL West remains at 4 and 1/2 games after the Rockies and Giants both won as well.
The beginning of the game started off an awful lot like Friday night's debacle, as the Padres got on the board. Everth Cabrera singled to lead off and stole second. After getting sacrificed to third, Kevin Kouzmanoff's RBI single made it 1-0.
The Dodgers finally showed some life of their own with the bats, a day after getting blanked by some no-name pitcher. Saturday they faced Mat Latos, and they made sure that embarrassment didn't happen again.
Rafael Furcal singled and Juan Pierre, starting for the resting Manny Ramirez, walked. Both advanced on Andre Ethier's groundout. Matt Kemp scored Furcal with an RBI groundout to tie it at one. James Loney singled to right to plate Pierre, and it was 2-0.
The next inning, Russell Martin and Raffy both walked. Cabrera then committed a costly error off of Pierre's bat, as both men came around to score to make it 4-1. Adrian Gonzalez got one back with an RBI single in the third to make it 4-2.
Ethier connected on his 28th of the season with a solo shot in the fourth. Another error by Cabrera let Kemp reach, and Loney hit another RBI single to go up 6-2.
An Ethier RBI double extended the lead to 7-2 in the in sixth. Heading into the bottom of the ninth, James McDonald was given the ball to close out a five-run lead.
Except that McDonald proceeded to give up three straight singles to load the bases. He got the hook, and Jonathan Broxton had to put out the fire.
Edgar Gonzalez hit an RBI single next at-bat, and Ethier's fielding error let another runner score, making it 7-4. Thankfully, Broxton struck out the next two and got a groundout to end the game, making it much scarier than it needed to be.
Lousy ninth inning or not, it's a win the Dodgers needed to have, especially over a bad team. I'm glad to see Loney hit well, as he went 2-for-2 with a couple of walks. He looked like he didn't have a clue lately, so maybe he's turning the corner. It's just one game, but you have to start somewhere.
Wolf ended up going seven innings for four hits, two runs, no walks, and five strikeouts. To say he's been one of the biggest surprises in the majors this year is an understatement. People knew he was a solid starter, but he's looking like an ace this year. Should the Dodgers hold on and make the playoffs, I can easily see him getting the Game One start.
With Casey Blake and Manny sitting out, I'm glad the others in the lineup got the job done. Granted, a big error by Cabrera helped the cause, but the Dodgers took advantage of it. With the Rockies and Giants still rolling, that's something that needed to happen.
Tonight's game is on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, as Hiroki Kuroda makes his return from the DL. In case you were under a rock, he was beaned in the head by a liner on August 15 in Arizona, so it's great that he's back so soon.
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