The Dodgers got just their second win in their last eleven at Angel Stadium by a score of 6-3 to even the series.
The offense started when Andruw Jones walked in the second and Blake DeWitt followed him with a homer. Some controversy followed the homerun call, as Angel manager Mike Scioscia argued a fan came in contact with the ball, but the umpires still ruled it a homerun to give the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. The Dodgers made it 4-0 in the third when Chin-lung Hu got a leadoff walk followed by Juan Pierre being hit by a pitch. Andre Ethier and Russell Martin each then had RBI-singles to drive them home. The Dodgers added two insurance runs later on, including one in the seventh when Juan Pierre scored from third while Martin was being tagged out in a rundown, and another in the eighth to make it 6-2. The Dodger offense totaled four runs off Angels starter Ervin Santana to hand him his first loss of the season.
Chan Ho Park made his first start in over a year, and gave up just one earned run on three hits through four. Hong-Chih Kuo then came out of the pen to pitch the next four, holding the Angels to just three hits and no runs to earn the win, his third of the season. Satio gave up one in the ninth to give the Angels a total of three runs, but that wasn’t enough to match the six that the Dodger offense put up.
The Dodgers go for the series win today at 12:35. Brad Penny’s start will be held off until tomorrow against the Reds due to some arm stiffness. Instead, Derek Lowe gets the nod on three days rest, but he holds a 3-0 record with a 3.33 ERA on starts with three days rest. Lowe is winless in May in three starts but looks for his third win of the season. The Angels will start Jered Weaver, who is 2-5 with a 4.86 ERA. He is coming off one of the best outings of his career, and holds a 2-0 career record against the Dodgers.
