The Dodgers put up six runs on eight hits to help Brad Penny get the win in his first start in almost two months as the Dodgers beat the Giants, 6-2.
The Dodgers were down 1-0 after the first but they brought their rally bats to the plate in the third to get five runs. Danny Ardoin led things off with a solo homerun, his first in almost three years. Penny chipped in with a single before Matt Kemp followed suit and Russell Martin, playing third, walked to juice the bases. Jeff Kent then cleared the bases with a double and came around to score on Angel Berroa’s two-out RBI-double. Casey Blake, playing first with Martin at third, capped the scoring off in the sixth with a solo homerun. The Dodgers handed Barry Zito his 14th loss while giving them two straight wins.
Brad Penny was pretty good in his first start off the DL, throwing 76 pitches in five innings. He held the Giants to one hit in those five frames, with one run in the first off Bengie Molina’s RBI-double, and is now 2-0 with an ERA under 1 against the Giants this season. The return of Penny also resulted in a roster move, with Brian Falkenborg being optioned to Triple-A. Cory Wade threw the sixth, allowing Molina to score again on a solo homerun. Chan Ho Park then took the game into the ninth and Jonathan Broxton secured the final out, via the strikeout, for his seventh save.
The Dodgers look to clinch the series in Saturday’s game, with Hiroki Kuroda facing Kevin Correia. Kuroda is off a one-run, 7 1/3 winning performance against the Dbacks, and is in search of his seventh win. Correia is 2-6 with an ERA over five. Torre put Kent in front of Manny in the lineup on Friday, and though Manny went hitless for the first time as a Dodger, it seemed to suit Kent well. He will do the same for tonight’s lineup, and will also start Juan Pierre or Andre Ethier over Andruw Jones in center.
