The Dodgers survived Barry Bonds, although that appears to be less of a deal then it was in the past. Most importantly, the Dodgers have pushed themselves back up to the .500 mark and they also continue to inch their way up the NL West standings. The downer was yet another injury, as Bill Mueller hit the DL with a bum knee.
Brad Penny got things going for the Dodgers on Friday. He threw five shutout innings and the Dodgers won handily, 6-1. Kenny Lofton drove in three runs and stole his ninth base and Russ Martin scored twice.
Things didn’t go as well for the Dodgers on Saturday. The Dodgers took a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth, but Danys Baez was knocked around for four runs in the come from behind win for the Giants. He blew his fifth save of the season and also took his fifth loss. Nomar Garciaparra and Jeff Kent homered in the 6-5 loss and J.D. Drew drove in two runs. a solid start by Aaron Sele went to waste. He gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings.
Yesterday, the Dodgers and Giants were tied heading into the eighth when the Dodgers broke the game open with three runs. Two runs scored on an error and then the two teams matched single runs in the ninth to make it a 6-3 final. Jeff Kent homered again and Jose Cruz, Jr. walked three times. Odalis Perez picked up the relief win and Joe Beimel picked up his first career save after he pitched the final two frames.
The Dodgers travel to Colorado for a three game series beginning today before they host the Angels for a three game series this weekend. This series with the Rockies is pretty big because they’re still roaming near the top of the NL West (one game back of the red hot Padres). Two of three would be nice.
