Dem Bums - A Dodgers Blog

The Dodgers took the final game against the Brewers today to win the series before they continue their road trip to see the Angels in LA.

The two teams were scoreless through six before the Dodgers blew the game open with a six-run seventh inning. Andruw Jones led off the inning with a solo homerun, just his second of the season. Jeff Kent followed suit to make it 2-0. James Loney then tripled before Russell Martin singled him in. Martin was playing third in place of Blake DeWitt, who was scratched at game time because of back pain. Gary Bennett then backed up Martin as catcher, and added to the homerun frenzy with a three-run shot to score Martin and Luis Maza, who had his first MLB hit. Bennett also had an RBI-double in the ninth. Brewers’ starter Ben Sheets had kept the Dodgers hitless through three and scoreless through six, but the six-run rally in the seventh was enough to give Sheets his first loss of the season.

Chad Billingsley gave up just one run in 7+ innings of work; he even had a no-hitter going until Sheets singled with two outs in the fifth. Billingsley struck out five and gave up just two hits before being pulled in the eighth inning after giving up a triple and a walk. Jonathan Broxton did all he could by getting JJ Hardy to ground into a double play, which allowed the runner at third to score. Broxton then allowed a solo homer before escaping the inning. Cory Wade then pitched the ninth, giving up one hit.

The win keeps the Dodgers 4 games behind the Dbacks at the start of the Interleague Play weekend.

The Dodgers entered the ninth being down 4-3 but rallied for three runs to take the 6-4 win to snap their five game losing skid.

The Brewers scored three in the second and the Dodgers couldn’t answer back until they scored one in the fifth off a Blake DeWitt solo homerun. The Dodgers added two more in the seventh but were still down 4-3 going into the ninth. The ninth inning rally started when pinch-hitter Delwyn Young walked with one out and Andre Ethier singled. Juan Pierre then drove a double off the left-center wall to score Young and Ethier for a 5-3 lead. Pierre then stole third before being driven home by Andruw Jones. Jones had two hits on the night, just his third multi-hit game of the season. Pierre, batting leadoff in place of Furcal, was 3 for 5 with 3 RBI on the night. Luis Maza made his short MLB debut in the game, entering at short in the bottom of the ninth after Young pinch hit for Chin-lung Hu.

Derek Lowe went six innings, the first time he’s gone that far in over a month. He gave up four runs on six hits with six K’s. He left after six with a 4-1 deficit, but avoided the loss and earned the no-decision after the Dodgers rallied in the ninth. Scott Proctor, Joe Beimel, Jonathan Broxton, and Saito all worked a hitless, scoreless next three innings. Broxton earned his second win and Saito earned his sixth save.

The Dodgers go for the series win today at 10:05am. Chad Bilingsley will start on four day’s rest and go for his third win. Billingsley is coming off a 5-0 loss against the Astros on Saturday. Ben Sheets will start for the Brewers, who is 4-0 with a 2.53 ERA.

May 15, 1988 at Dodger Stadium
Dodgers 9, Phillies 2  (21-12)

Kirk Gibson had a big day at the plate as the Dodgers took the rubber game in their series against the Phillies.  Gibby went two for four with a double, three RBIs and a run while Steve Sax went three for five with two doubles, one RBI and a run.  Pedro Guerrero pitched in with a solo homer, his third long ball of the season.

Tim Belcher went the distance and he improved to 3-1 on the season.  He gave up two runs on six hits and four walks with eight strikeouts.

The Dodgers continue their losing slump by losing 5-3 to the Brewers in Milwaukee last night.

The Dodgers had a 2-0 lead by the third off a Jeff Kent RBI-single in the first to score Matt Kemp, who had doubled, and a Kemp RBI-single in the third to score Juan Pierre, who had singled. The Dodgers added one more in the fourth when James Loney tripled and Russell Martin drove him home to take a 3-1 lead, but that third run would be the Dodgers’ last of the night. After the fourth inning, the Dodger offense was nearly shut down, only mustering two more hits for the remaining five innings, both singles by Martin. The only hope came in the ninth when Martin singled and Andruw Jones walked off Eric Gagne, who has five blown saves, to represent the tying runs, but Juan Pierre popped out to end the game.

Brad Penny earned his fourth loss of the season after giving up five runs on nine hits through six. Penny let a 3-2 lead slip away in the fifth when he allowed the Brewers to rally for three runs, all coming with two outs. The Brewers first two runs off Penny also came with two outs, an RBI-single to Mike Cameron in the third and a homerun to Bill Hall in the fourth. Cory Wade threw the last two innings, giving up one hit and two walks but no runs.  

The Dodgers look to again end their losing streak tonight at 5:05. The pitching staff’s ERA in the five-game losing skid is an elevated 8.46. Derek Lowe will go to even his record with a win at 3-3. The Brewers will start LHP Manny Parra, who stands at 1-2 and has yet to make it out of the fifth inning this season.

May 14, 1988 at Dodger Stadium
Dodgers 3, Phillies 2  (20-12)

The fourth time was the charm as the Dodgers ended a three game losing streak to win their 20th game of the season.  Don Sutton improved to 3-2 on the season with a solid start.  He gave up two runs (one earned) on eight hits with a strikeout in 5 2/3 innings.  Jay Howell struck out four in the final two innings and he picked up his third save of the season.

Mike Davis went two for four with a run in the win.  Mike Marshall doubled, drove in a run and scored.

The Dodgers begin their roadtrip in Milwaukee tonight at 5:05 before heading back to LA to visit the Angels in the first Interleague series of the year.

The Dodgers will still be without Rafael Furcal, who was placed on the 15-day DL for stiffness in his back. The move is retroactive back from May 6, which means Furcal could rejoin the team as early as May 21. Infielder Luis Maza will likely be called up from Triple A Las Vegas to replace Furcal; it will be the first time in the Majors for the 27 year old.

The Dodgers will look to snap their current four game losing streak with the help of Brad Penny, who is 3-2 with a 4.74 ERA lifetime against the Brewers. Penny will look to get back into his groove after being tagged for 10 runs in 4 2/3 innings in his last outing, a loss to the Mets. The Brewers will start Carlos Villanueva, who is 1-4 with a 6.46 ERA. The Dodgers went 3-3 against the Brewers last season.

May 13, 1988 at Dodger Stadium
Phillies 2, Dodgers 1  (19-12)

For the first time this season, the Dodgers accumulated a three game losing streak as Tim Leary had another hard luck start.  He fell to 2-3 and he gave up two runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in six innings.

Mike Marshall drove in the lone run for the Dodgers.  He belted his fifth homer in the seventh inning.  Kirk Gibson doubled and that was the only other extra base hit in the contest.

Hiroki Kuroda took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but the Dodger bullpen allowed seven runs to take the 8-5 loss.

The Dodger offense began with two runs in the first, a two-run shot by James Loney, to give Kuroda some run support to work with. Rafael Furcal was out of the lineup again, so Juan Pierre took the leadoff spot, going 1 for 4. The Dodgers added one more in the seventh and rallied for two in the bottom of the ninth, but failed to match the Astros eight runs. Blake DeWitt and Andre Ethier each had three hits on the night, with a double for each.

Kuroda lost his no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh when Hunter Pence singled. Kuroda faced two more batters, walking one, before Torre pulled him and put in Joe Beimel. Beimel then walked in a run before escaping the inning jam. Jonathan Broxton then came in for the eighth, in place of the ill Saito, but allowed the Astros to score six runs on six hits, recording just one out. Broxton came in the inning with the lead and left trailing by four. The outing gives Broxton his first blown save and loss of the season. Hong-Chih Kuo then relieved for Broxton and threw the ninth, giving up one more run. Kuo may start in the weekend’s Angels series in place of fifth starter Esteban Loaiza, who is on the DL.

The Dodgers have an off day on Monday before heading out to Milwaukee for a three game series with the Brewers.

May 12, 1988 at Three Rivers Stadium
Pirates 7, Dodgers 4  (19-11)

Barry Bonds roughed up Orel Hershiser in his first loss of the season.  In a tough start, Hershiser gave up seven runs on twelve hits and three walks with four strikeouts in seven innings.  Three of the hits he gave up were long balls and two of those came off the bat of Bonds.

Mike Davis singled twice, drove in a run and scored twice.  Rick Dempsey doubled and drove in a pair of runs.

Starter Chad Billingsley got his fifth loss of the season while the offense could only produce three hits in the 5-0 shutout loss.

Astros starter Chris Sampson only gave up three hits in his seven innings of work, singles to Matt Kemp and Chin-lung Hu and a double to James Loney. Hu started again for Rafael Furcal at short.

Billingsley gave up five runs, four earned, through five innings. The Astros rallied for three in the first and two more in the second and were then shutout after that, with Billingsley settling down to retire nine straight batters. The bullpen delievered for four shutout innings, with Chan Ho Park pitching three and Joe Beimel the ninth.

The Dodgers look to end their losing streak at three games, with their final game of the series on Sunday.

May 11, 1988 at Three Rivers Stadium
Pirates 2, Dodgers 1  (19-10)

For the second straight day, the Dodgers went into extra frames against an opponent but this time they were on the losing end of things.  Alejandro Pena gave up a run on one hit and two walks in the bottom of the eleventh inning and he lost his first of the season.  Fernando Valenzuela had a solid start go to waste.  He gave up one run on seven hits and five walks with eight strikeouts in seven innings of work.

Mike Davis had a team high three hits while Mike Scioscia doubled, singled and scored the lone Dodger run.  Valenzuela helped out his own cause and he drove in the only run the Dodgers scored.

The offense couldn’t get going last night, scoring only one run in the ninth inning to take the 7-1 loss in the series opener to the Astros.

The Dodger offense could only produce seven hits: two from each James Loney and Blake DeWitt, and one each from Russell Martin, Andruw Jones, and Derek Lowe. The lone run came in the ninth when Jones, who had doubled, scored on a RBI-groundout from Chin-lung Hu. The Dodgers went 0 for 9 with RISP in the game, and have scored just two runs in their past 21 innings. Rafael Furcal was out of the lineup again, and is still listed as day-to-day but Torre has announced that he will start in today’s game.  

The Rays starter, Brian Moehler, earned his first win from a start in nearly two years. Lowe gave up six runs in 5 1/3 inning to take his third loss of the season. Lowe gave up a pair of runs in the second, third and fifth innings and left in the fifth for Cory Wade, who pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings. Yhency Brazoban, who was just recalled from Las Vegas for his first Dodger appearance this season, worked one inning and Scott Proctor the ninth, with Proctor giving up one more run on two hits.

The Dodgers and Astros, now both with 19 wins, will go again tonight at 7:10pm. Chad Billingsley will make the start and go for his third straight win of the season, coming off a 5-1 victory over the Mets, where he gave up just one run through six innings. Ironically, the last Dodger pitcher to throw a complete game was Billingsley last year against the Astros, so we hope that history will be repeated. The Astros will start Chris Sampson, who is 1-3 this season and 0-1 lifetime against the Dodgers.

May 10, 1988 at Wrigley Field
Dodgers 6, Cubs 5  (19-9)

The Dodger almost let this game slip away from them as they blew a 5-1 lead but they held on to win it in the fourteenth inning on a solo homer by Kirk Gibson.  It was his sixth homer of the season and he finished three for seven with three runs while Steve Sax went two for seven with a solo homer.

Tim Belcher was touched up for four runs in 5 2/3 innings and it was Jesse Orosco who gave up the ninth inning run that sent the game into extra frames.  Still, Brian Holton threw three shutout innings to pick up the win while Orel Hershiser came in to pitch a perfect fourteenth to pick up his first save of the season.

The Dodgers host the Astros in their first series against them this season, tonight at 7:40.

Derek Lowe will look for this third win to bring his record above .500. Lowe is coming off his worse outing of the season, giving up five runs, six hits, and four walks through five against the Rockies on Sunday. Starting at home has been good for Lowe this season, where he is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA in three starts.

The Astros’ Brian Moehler will make his first start since September 2006 when he was a Marlin. Moehler replaces Wandy Rodriguez in the rotation, who is still recovering from a groin strain. Moehler has been in the bullpen for the Astros this season, yielding a 7.04 ERA in five outings.

Updates:

Esteban Loaiza was placed on the 15-day DL for tightness in his right shoulder blade. The Dodgers will likely call someone up to replace Loaiza in the rotation, but the off day this week pushes back the team’s need for a fifth starter.

Andy LaRoche appears to be healthy enough to return to the team. After starting the season with a question mark at third base, the Dodgers will soon have Blake DeWitt, LaRoche, and Nomar in surplus at third. LaRoche awaits in Triple-A Las Vegas, contining his rehab assignment.

Rafael Furcal should also be back in the lineup tonight after missing the past couple games for a sore back.

The Dodger offense couldn’t match the Mets 12 runs last night to give the Dodgers their first loss to the Mets this season.

The only Dodger run came in the ninth after already being down by 12. They avoided the shutout from Mets starter John Maine when Matt Kemp, playing center, had an RBI single to score Andruw Jones, who had a pinch-hit double. The hit extends Kemp’s hit streak to 12 games. The Dodgers had only four total hits in the game, two coming in that ninth inning.

Brad Penny earned his third loss of the season, giving up 10 runs (a career high) on 10 hits through 4 2/3. The Mets began their rallying off Penny in the second, where Penny gave up three RBI singles to give the Mets four runs. They added one more in the third before putting the game out of reach with a six-run fifth. Scott Proctor came in the fifth inning and left after the sixth, giving up three hits and two runs. Chan Ho Park then threw a perfect three innings to finish the game.

The loss is only the Dodgers’ second in their last twelve. They have an off day today before opening a series against the Astros at home this weekend.

May 8, 1988 at Busch Stadium
Dodgers 12, Cardinals 6  (18-9)

Mike Davis and Kirk Gibson had big days at the plate as the Dodgers blew out the Cardinals in the rubber game of their series.  Davis went four for six with a double, a triple, three RBIs and a run.  Kirk Gibson hit his fifth homer of the season and he went two for four with a walk, two RBIs and three runs.

Don Sutton improved to 2-2 on the season despite a mediocre start.  He gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits with four strikeouts in seven frames.

The Dodgers took another from the Mets last night, winning their second straight and 10 of their last 11.

The leadoff spot was handed to Juan Pierre after Rafael Furcal was scratched from the lineup for the first time this season for stiffness in his lower back. Furcal is an imporant asset to the lineup but his loss didn’t stop the Dodger offense from producing enough runs for the win.

The Dodgers were down by three going into the bottom of the second, but Juan Pierre delievered an RBI single to score Blake DeWitt to make it 3-1. The Mets scored another in the third but the Dodgers answered back by scoring two more with a 2-RBI single by DeWitt. DeWitt also had an inside the park homerun in the fifth, his second of the Majors in two games, to give the Dodgers the lead. DeWitt ended up 3 for 4 with 4 RBI and 3 runs scored on the night.

Starter Hiroki Kuroda didn’t make it out of the fourth as he gave up eight hits with four runs (two earned). Hong Chih-Kuo came in to relieve Kuroda and was perfect for 3 2/3 innings. Kuo gave up no hits while fanning eight of the thirteen batters he faced, which is a career high for him. The win is just Kuo’s fourth of his career, three coming from beating the Mets. Jonathan Broxton pitched an inning to earn the hold and Saito earned his fifth save of the season.

The Dodgers will go for the sweep today at 12:10. Brad Penny will go for his sixth win, he is 3-0 lifetime against the Mets at Dodger Stadium. The Mets have John Maine starting, who is 3-2 with a 3.48 ERA. Maine is 0-3 lifetime against the Dodgers.

May 7, 1988 at Busch Stadium
Cardinals 2, Dodgers 1  (17-9)

The Dodgers four game winning streak came to an end when John Tudor outdueled Tim Leary.  Tudor held the Dodgers’ hitters to just a single run on four hits and the long Dodgers’ run came on a pinch hit RBI single off the bat of Steve Sax in the eighth inning.

Leary threw seven solid frames and for his efforts, he didn’t get the win. He gave up one run on six hits with five strikeouts in seven innings of work.  Jesse Orosco and Jay Howell combined to give up a run in the bottom of the ninth as Orosco took the loss and dropped to 1-1.

The Dodgers could be on their way to another long winning streak after beating the Mets last night 5-1.

The offense roughed up Mets starter Oliver Perez for six hits, three being homeruns. Rafael Furcal had a solo in the first to leadoff, followed by Blake DeWitt and Matt Kemp, both with homers in the fifth. DeWitt’s homer to center was his first of his MLB career. Matt Kemp continued to shine after being named NL Player of the Week, with another hit on top of his 2-run homerun to extend his streak to ten games. Russell Martin also added two hits on the night.

Chad Billingsley earned his second straight win of the season while giving up just one run in the sixth to lower his ERA to 4.54. He gave up five hits and four walks through six and also struck out four. Joe Beimel, Jonathan Broxton, and Saito all came out of the pen to each pitch a perfect inning.

The Dodgers have picked up ground on the Dbacks; they stand just 3 games behind them in first. They will go for the series win tonight at 7:10. Hiroki Kuroda will make the start, his first against the Mets, after earning a no-decision in seven strong innings last Thursday. The Mets will start Nelson Figueroa, who is 2-1 this season and 1-0 in two starts lifetime against the Dodgers.

May 6, 1988 at Busch Stadium
Dodgers 10, Cardinals 2  (17-8)

The Dodgers hit the road and won their fourth straight game with another ten run game.  Mike Marshall homered, drove in two and scored twice while Alfredo Griffin went two for five with a triple, three RBIs and a run.  Kirk Gibson pitched in with a single, a double, an RBI and two runs.

Fernando Valenzuela went the distance and he evened his record at 3-3.  He gave up two runs on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts in the complete game win.

The Dodgers open a homestand with the Mets tonight. The Mets were scheduled to throw Nelson Figueroa, but will instead start Oliver Perez. Perez is 2-2 this season, and is coming off a loss in his last outing against Pittsburgh, giving up seven runs before being pulled in the second inning.

The team looks to start another win streak comparable to the eight game streak that was snapped by Colorado on Sunday. The team offensive leader for the stretch was Matt Kemp, who earned the NL Player of the Week. He beat out teammates Rafael Furcal and Juan Pierre, who were also nominated this week. In Kemp’s last nine games, he batted .410 with 16 RBIs. He has batted almost exactly the same, .414 with 10 RBIs, in his career against the Mets while at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers will host the Mets on Monday at 7:10 to open a six game homestand, followed by the Astros for the weekend.

The Dodgers went 5-5 with the Mets last year, going 4-3 at home. Chad Billingsley will go for his second win of the season after coming off his first win with seven strong innings in his last outing on Wednesday. He will face Nelson Figueroa, who is 2-1 with a 4.08 ERA.

In other news, Andy LaRoche was designated to Triple-A Las Vegas after being out since the beginning of March. LaRoche was expected to fill in for Nomar and Tony Abreu, who are both still out with injuries, but Torre has decided to keep Blake DeWitt at third for now.

The Dodgers took the first two against the Rockies to seal the series victory, but lost on Sunday to end their MLB-leading win streak at eight.

On Friday, the Dodgers were down 3-0 going into the sixth, but exploded for seven runs to take the lead and added four more to get an 11-6 win. Furcal was again the hot hitter of the night, going 3 for 5, one homerun, with 4 RBI. Matt Kemp also added 4 RBI, going 2 for 5. Russell Martin also went 2 for 5, making a start at third before moving back to catch in the sixth when DeWitt was put at third.

Brad Penny earned his fifth win of the season; his fourth in a row. He walked four and gave up one run in each of the first three innings, but settled down to get through five. Cory Wade pitched the sixth and was charged with three runs, though all were unearned from DeWitt’s two errors. Joe Beimel pitched an inning to get the hold and Chan Ho Park threw the final two innings and held the Rockies scoreless.

Saturday’s game was about the same story, with a 12-7 victory.

The offense racked up 14 hits, led by James Loney, who had 6 RBI with a double and 2-run homerun. Juan Pierre went 3 for 4, and Furcal and Kemp each added 2 hits.

Esteban Loaiza got the start but also the no-decision after giving up five runs on five hits to leave in the second. Hong-Chih Kuo came to clean up Loaiza’s mess and earned the win, going 3 2/3, giving up just one run on three hits.

And here is where the win streak ends. The offense could only knock in 2 runs in today’s game, compared to the 23 runs in the previous two games. Andre Ethier homered in the fifth to score the Dodger’s first run and cut the Rockies lead to 3-1. Juan Pierre also knocked in a run in the eighth, but was not enough for the Rockies seven runs.

Derek Lowe was roughed up for three runs in the first inning, and gave up two more in the fifth before being pulled after that inning. Lowe is now 2-2 on the season. Chan Ho Park and Cory Wade also came out of the pen and each gave up a run.

Winning seven of their last eight allows the Dodgers to move to four games behind the DBacks in first.

May 4, 1988 at Dodger Stadium
Dodgers 8, Pirates 5  (16-8)

The Dodgers finished up a three game sweep over the Pirates and Kirk Gibson was one of the Dodgers to have a big day at the plate.  He went two for four with a walk, his fourth homerun, two RBIs and two runs.  Pedro Guerrero went four for five with two RBIs and a run while Steve Sax finished three for four with a walk, an RBI, two runs and three stolen bases.

Orel Hershiser continued his perfect season and he improved to 6-0.  He gave up two runs on ten hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. 

The Dodgers will go for seven straight wins tonight against the Rockies at 6:05.

Brad Penny will face LHP Jeff Francis. Penny will go for his fifth win; he is 13-2 lifetime against the Rockies. Penny’s last outing was a win against the Rockies, going a season-high seven innings while giving up three runs. Francis is winless this season, and after losing his first two starts, has improved to a 2.57 ERA in his last 21 innings.

The top story of the Rockies has been the recent loss of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who is a key component to their lineup. This will be the Rockies first game missing Tulowitzki with the knowledge that he’ll be out until at least the All-Star break. 

Jonathan Broxton could be available to pitch tonight. He has been out all week due to a strained muscle, but could be up to pitch tonight if a bullpen session goes well.

The online ballots have opened for the 2008 All-Star Game in New York on July 15.

The surplus of outfielders for the Dodgers have left Matt Kemp off the ballot. That leaves Andruw Jones, Andre Ethier, and Juan Pierre. Then of course are the usually James Loney at first, Jeff Kent at second, Rafael Furcal at short, Nomar at third, and Russell Martin at catcher. Martin, along with Brad Penny and Takashi Saito, were the only Dodger All-Stars last year.

This year, the top two Dodger favorites beyond Martin could be Loney and Furcal because of their stellar numbers thus far this season. Nomar is also of course always a fan favorite.

The online voting is open from now until July 2.

May 2, 1988 at Dodger Stadium
Dodgers 6, Pirates 3  (14-8)

Steve Sax had a big day at the plate as the Dodgers got back on track in a win over the Pirates.  Sax went three for three with a homerun, three RBIs and two runs.  Kirk Gibson hit his third homer of the season with a solo shot in the fifth while Danny Heep drew a walk, drove in a run and scored.

Don Sutton was touched up for three runs and he was pulled with two outs in the fifth inning.  Alejandro Pena threw two scoreless frames from there and Jesse Orosco closed the game out with 2 1/3 shutout innings to pick up the win.

The Dodgers beat the Marlins today, 5-3, to earn the series sweep and improve their win streak to six games.

The Marlins scored first with one run in the third, but the Dodgers answered back in the fourth with an RBI single by Andre Ethier to score Juan Pierre. Pierre, going against his former team, ended up 2 for 3 with 2 RBI. Both teams scored 2 in the fifth to hold a 3-3 tie until the ninth inning. Matt Kemp drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth with an RBI single to score Rafael Furcal. Kemp then came around to score after two Marlins throwing errors.

The Marlins scored all three runs off Hiroki Kuroda, who left after seven with a 3-3 tie to get the no decision. Kuroda struck out seven with no walks and gave up just five hits. Scott Proctor and Joe Beimel worked the eighth, with Beimel earning the win despite only throwing one pitch. Saito closed out the ninth with near perfection with two strikeouts to earn his fourth save of the season.

The Dodgers are now two games above .500. Their hot win streak has drawn comparisons with the city-rival Angels, who hold the best AL record. The Dodgers leave Florida and head to Denver for a weekend series with the Rockies.

The Dodger offense exploded for 13 runs off 15 hits to beat the Marlins 13-1 and give Chad Billingsley his first win of the season.

The Dodgers took a 1-0 lead in the second off a Russell Martin solo homerun, who ended up 2 for 2 with 3 walks. They added to their lead with 2 in the third and 1 in the fifth before batting around in both the seventh and eighth innings to score 9 runs in those innings. The bats were led by Rafael Furcal, who went 5 for 6 with 3 runs scored. Furcal raised his average to .381 with those 5 hits. Blake DeWitt also had 4 RBI while going 2 for 5. James Loney and Matt Kemp each added 3 RBI.

Billingsley earned his first win of the year, going seven innings and giving up one run on three hits with eight strikeouts. The one run he gave up came in the fifth, an inning that has haunted Billingsley all season, with an 18.92 ERA for all his fifth innings. He escaped giving up only one run and lowered his ERA to 5.20. Hong-Chih Kuo came in to pitch the eighth and ninth innings, his first appearance after making a start on April 22. He gave up a couple hits but kept the Marlins at one run.

The Dodgers go for the series sweep and their sixth straight win today. Hiroki Kuroda will go to even his record at 2-2 against Burke Badenhop, who is 0-2 in his first two starts as a big leaguer.

May 1, 1988 at Dodger Stadium
Cardinals 9, Dodgers 0  (13-8)

The Dodgers lost back to back games for the first time this season in an ugly in which the Dodgers were held to a mere one hit.  Kirk Gibson broke up the no-hitter with a lead off single in the seventh.

Tim Leary was pummelled for six runs in the first inning and he fell to 2-2.  Brian Holton and Brad Havens also gave up runs while Jesse Orosco was the only pitcher who came into the game and left unscathed.