The Dodgers ran away with a 7-2 win over the Padres in Wednesday’s rubber match, which adds another game to their lead in the division.
The offense was powered by Manny Ramirez, who went 2 for 5 with 4 RBI and two homeruns. After the Padres scored one in the first, the Dodgers stole the lead in the next inning with three runs. James Loney tied it with a solo homerun before Blake DeWitt drove in the go-ahead run on his RBI-double. Russell Martin then chipped in with an RBI single. The offense was all Manny after that, with a two-run blast in the fifth followed by another of the same fashion for a couple insurance runs in the ninth.
Derek Lowe allowed a run to score in the first but was lights out after that until he was lifted in the sixth after being struck in the right knee with a ball off the bat of Kevin Kouvmanoff. Torre let him toss a few warmup pitches before pulling him and putting in Scott Elbert, who finished the inning. Brad Penny then came out of the ‘pen and was tagged for a run after loading the bases for Cory Wade.
