The Dodgers took a rough 9-3 loss in Phoenix on Friday before coming back for a win on Saturday to even up the series. The boys remain 3 1/2 games back heading into Sunday’s rubber match.
On Friday, the Dodgers exploded for 12 hits, but could only touch home three times in the loss. Two came in the fifth for a brief lead before Arizona regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Manny had a 4 for 4 night with two runs and Andre Ethier was 2 for 5. The Dodgers had two more hits than Arizona but yet six less runs…highlighted by a bases-loaded first inning that ended with no runs scored.
Hiroki Kuroda tossed five innings and gave up four runs to take the loss. Recent call-up Scott Elbert came out of the ‘pen for the sixth in his first big-league appearance and got a walk and two strikeouts before Chan Ho Park came in and gave Arizona four more runs. Beimel and Jason Johnson each threw an inning.
The Dodgers saw Jeff Kent leave in the sixth on Friday for his left knee, but his return is questionable. An MRI exam will show if Kent is out for a few games, the season, or even his career.
The Dodgers got a 6-2 win on Saturday to stop their losing streak at eight games to get their first win of the road trip.
The offense was led by Manny, who was 4 for 5 with two solo homeruns and a double to notch 500 for his career. He gave the Dodgers their first run in the third with his first solo homerun before capping off the scoring with his second blast in the seventh. The boys rallied for two in the fourth before Matt Kemp drilled a two-run homerun in the fifth.
Chad Billingsley got his 13th win, going seven-plus innings and giving up just two runs with six K’s. He was saved in the eighth by Hong-Chih Kuo, who came in with a runner on second and no outs. Five of Kuo’s six outs were strikeouts.
The Dodgers can cut Arizona’s lead to 2 1/2 with a win in today’s rubber match, but they will have to get by Brandon Webb and his 19 wins and 2.96 ERA. The Dodgers look to stop Webb from becoming the NL’s first 20-game winner since 2005, and if they are successful, they will attempt the same feat next weekend when Webb will be pitching at Dodger Stadium. Derek Lowe will take the mound for the Dodgers at looks to set his record back at .500. This is the third Lowe-Webb matchup since the All-Star Break, with Lowe having a 1-1 record in three total starts this season against the Dbacks.
