It’s tough to say that the Dodgers, a sub-.500 team in baseball’s worst division, are feeling good this holiday weekend. But inching ever closer to division leader Arizona while welcoming back two injured players left L.A. feeling Reborn on the Fourth of July.
The Dodgers busted out the big bats on a Friday matinee game, beating up on the archrival Giants to win 10-7 in the opener of the three-game set in San Francisco. L.A. connected for 13 hits, eight of which went for extra bases, while rallying from an early 5-2 deficit. The victory stretched the Dodgers win streak to four, and the Dodgers were also glad to welcome back infielder Nomar Garciaparra and outfielder Andruw Jones.
Derek Lowe, who pitched brilliantly in his last start but lost, threw five shaky innings and left losing, but earned the victory anyway when the Dodgers scored five unearned runs in the top of the sixth. Lowe allowed five runs (four earned) and was replaced by pinch hitter Delwyn Young, who hit a key RBI single to bring the Dodgers to within 5-4. Young’s hit scored Garciaparra, who opened the inning with a fly ball dropped by Giants leftfielder Fred Lewis. A few batters later, the Dodgers had an 8-5 lead and never looked back.
Andre Ethier fueled the offense with a homer in his third straight game, and his two-run double in the sixth scored the tying and go-ahead runs. Garciaparra and Russell Martin each had two RBIs, and Andy LaRoche hit a solo homer in the ninth for a key insurance run.
The Dodger bullpen briefly faltered, with Jonathan Broxton loading the bases with none out, but got a double-play grounder to allow only two runs on the inning, and hand a lead to Takashi Saito, who closed it out for his 15th save.
The Dodgers may finally be beginning to gel, and part of that may be due to the roster moves the Dodgers made. In bringing back Garciaparra, the Dodgers placed Mark Sweeney and his sub-.100 average on the disabled list. Good move; Garciaparra went 2-for-4 with a walk and no errors at the shortstop position. Meanwhile, the Dodgers got Jones and sent down Jason Repko. While Repko went 0-for-5 with four strikeouts in his Dodger debut, Jones was a big improvement going… 0-for-5 with four strikeouts. Good to have you back, Mr. Jones.
