Oct 7, 2008 - 6:22 AM
0 shoutsOverall Season Series - Tie, 4-4 Series at Philadelphia - PHI, 4-0 Series at Los Angeles - LAD, 4-0
DATE SITE WINNER ---- ---- ------ 08/22 LAD LAD, 8-6 08/23 LAD LAD, 4-3 08/24 LAD LAD, 7-6 08/18 LAD LAD, 3-1 08/19 PHI PHI, 8-1 08/20 PHI PHI, 9-2 08/28 PHI PHI, 5-2 08/29 PHI PHI, 5-0
LA DODGERS 8, PHILADELPHIA 6 ----------------------------
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The acquisitions of Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake are paying off for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ramirez had two RBI and Blake homered as the Dodgers claimed an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night.
Ramirez, who was acquired from the Boston Red Sox in a three-team trade on July 31, is batting .475 with four home runs and 13 RBI in 10 games with the Dodgers.
Blake also has helped the Dodgers since being acquired from the Cleveland Indians on July 26, stroking his third home run with the team during a six-run third inning.
Matt Kemp singled and stole second with one out in the third before Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick (10-6) walked Andre Ethier and hit Jeff Kent to load the bases.
Ramirez plated two with a double to center field and James Loney followed with a two-run single. Loney was thrown out at home on a base hit by Russell Martin before Blake capped the inning with his 15th home run of the season - a two-run blast to center - to give the Dodgers a 6-0 lead.
Ryan Howard got the Phillies on the board with an RBI groundout in the fourth, but Los Angeles got the run back as Kent plated Kemp with a single in the bottom of the frame.
Ramirez followed with a walk, bouncing Kendrick from the game after he allowed seven runs, nine hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings.
Howard added another RBI groundout in the sixth off Dodgers starter Derek Lowe (9-10), who surrendered three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking one to snap a two-game personal losing streak.
The Phillies struck for a pair of runs in the seventh, but Loney added his third RBI of the game in the eighth to give the Dodgers an 8-4 advantage.
Chase Utley plated two runs with a bases-loaded single in the ninth, but Jonathan Broxton got Howard to ground out to second to earn his eighth save.
LA DODGERS 4, PHILADELPHIA 3 ----------------------------
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Andre Ethier has seen his playing time dwindle since the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Manny Ramirez. Still, that hasn't stopped the outfielder from making the most of his opportunities.
Ethier hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers posted a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.
Casey Blake knocked in a pair of runs and Matt Kemp added three hits and scored twice for Los Angeles (60-59), which trails the Arizona Diamondbacks (61-58) by one game in the National League West.
That's precisely what Ethier proceeded to do.
J.C. Romero (4-4) hit Russell Martin in the left foot to start the ninth. James Loney advanced the runner to second with a groundout, setting the stage for Ethier. Ethier hit a 3-2 offering into left field, allowing Martin to slide safely underneath Chris Coste's tag at home for the win.
When the Dodgers acquired Ramirez in a trade with the Boston Red Sox, it created a surplus of outfielders, leaving Ethier, Juan Pierre and the recently disabled Andruw Jones to fight for the third spot. Instead of getting upset at his declined playing time, Ethier - who has started 93 games - is embracing the situation.
The Dodgers evened the score at 3-3 in the eighth thanks to a sacrifice-fly by Blake. With the bases loaded, Nomar Garciaparra had a chance to bring home the go-ahead run but grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Ramirez had reached base after being hit high on the left shoulder by Chad Durbin and was visibly upset, taking a few steps toward the mound before making his way to first. Earlier in the game, he had been brushed back on two occasions with pitches that traveled up and in.
Hong-Chih Kuo (4-2) picked up the win after tossing two scoreless frames.
Chase Utley homered for the Phillies, who reached Los Angeles rookie Clayton Kershaw for three runs in the first three innings.
Utley hit his 30th home run in the first to become the sixth player in franchise history to post consecutive seasons of 30-plus homers and 30-plus doubles. Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels added a run-scoring single in the second and Pat Burrell brought home Jimmy Rollins with a sacrifice-fly in the third to make it 3-0.
Kershaw, who was coming off the best start of his young career, settled down after the early stages. The lefthander finished with a career-high eight strikeouts, while giving up three runs on six hits with two walks in six innings.
The Dodgers cut into the deficit in the sixth. Pierre and Kemp singled and two batters later Ramirez hit a 3-2 offering up the middle to cut the lead to 3-2.
Hamels, who allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings, is winless in his last seven starts - the longest stretch of his three-year career. The lefthander has not pitched bad, though, as he entered the game with a 3.79 ERA in six prior starts. The Phillies' (64-55) lead over the New York Mets (63-56) in the National League East was cut to one game.
LA DODGERS 7, PHILADELPHIA 6 ----------------------------
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The new-look Los Angeles Dodgers have a new attitude - and it's starting to show.
Nomar Garciaparra homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Dodgers to a 7-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.
Jeff Kent had a season-high four hits, including a game-tying double in the eighth, and new acquisition Manny Ramirez and Andre Ethier homered to propel the Dodgers (61-59) into a first-place tie with the Arizona Diamondbacks (61-59) in the West.
After Blake flew out to open the ninth, Garciaparra sent the fans home happy with his sixth homer. In his second game off the disabled list, Garciaparra hit the third pitch from Clay Condrey (3-3) over the fence in left field.
The Dodgers were in position to stun the Phillies thanks to a timely knock by Kent an inning earlier.
Russell Martin had started the eighth with a single through the left side and Juan Pierre followed with a walk. After a flyout, Ethier advanced the runners into scoring position with a groundout. Kent promptly belted a pitch from Chad Durbin over third base to easily score both runners and make it 6-6.
It was the second time in as many nights that the Dodgers came from behind to stun the Phillies late, after Ethier did it with a walk-off single in Tuesday's 4-3 victory.
Ryan Howard hit his major league-leading 33rd home run while Greg Dobbs and Jayson Werth added two-run homers to help the Phillies to an early 6-1 advantage.
But the Phillies' bats went cold, as they managed one hit from the third inning.
Jonathan Broxton (3-3) secured the win by striking out two in a perfect ninth.
Dodgers starter Brad Penny was ineffective in his second start since missing 46 games with right shoulder tendinitis. He lasted three innings, surrendering six runs on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
The Dodgers then attempted to climb back in the contest thanks to some long balls.
Ramirez continued his recent tear with a two-run homer in the third to cut the deficit to 6-3. The Dodgers left fielder has hit safely in 11 of 12 games with his new club and is batting .467 (21-for-45) with five home runs and 16 RBI in that span.
Ethier's solo shot in the fourth made it 6-4.
LA DODGERS 3, PHILADELPHIA 1 ----------------------------
LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Hiroki Kuroda outdueled Brett Myers as the Los Angeles Dodgers downed the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1, on Thursday to remain tied for first place in the National League West.
Kuroda (7-8) pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, allowing one run. He struck out seven. Hong-Chi Kuo pitched the last two innings for his first save to complete the Dodgers' first four-game sweep of the Phillies in 46 years.
Myers (5-10) pitched seven innings, allowing three runs and five hits while striking out eight.
The Phillies (64-57) fell a game behind the New York Mets (65-56), who defeated the Washington Nationals and took over sole possession of first place in the National League East.
The Dodgers, who are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks at 62-59, took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when James Loney tripled and scored on a groundout by Nomar Garciaparra.
They upped the margin to 2-0 in the sixth when Matt Kemp blast a homer to center field, his 14th.
The Phillies managed a run in the seventh as Jayson Werth doubled, took third on a groundout and came home on Ryan Howard's sacrifice fly to left field.
The Dodgers countered in the bottom half. Russell Martin singled, stole second and came home on a single by Casey Blake to left field.
PHILADELPHIA 8, LA DODGERS 1 ----------------------------
PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Once the hitters became more patient, the Philadelphia Phillies' offense came to life.
Chris Coste homered and drove in four runs while Ryan Howard and Chase Utley also belted shots as the Phillies overcame a slow start and posted an 8-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opener of a four-game series on Friday.
The offensive explosion came against the newly acquired Greg Maddux (6-10), who was seeking his 354th career win. The veteran righthander was making his second straight start against the Phillies but first with the Dodgers, who obtained the four-time Cy Young Award winner from the San Diego Padres on Tuesday.
Maddux pitched against Philadelphia for San Diego a week ago, allowing a solo homer by Pat Burrell in the 1-0 loss.
After Andre Ethier's 16th blast of the season in the first inning gave the Dodgers a 1-0 lead, Maddux kept the Phillies' bats quiet for 3 2/3 frames. He faced the minimum number of hitters while throwing just 28 pitches.
Up to that point, Maddux surrendered just an infield single in the third by Geoff Jenkins, who was erased on a double-play grounder. Jenkins did not return for the fourth due to a right hip strain.
However, Burrell worked a two-out walk off Maddux in the fourth during a 10-pitch at-bat. That seemed to ignite the offense as Howard followed with his 34th homer, driving a 2-0 offering over the left field wall for a 2-1 lead.
Howard believed Burrell's walk was the key.
Philadelphia, which has won four of five, made it 3-1 in the fifth by opening the frame with three straight singles, capped by Coste's run-scoring base hit.
The Phillies broke open the contest with four runs in the sixth inning. Jayson Werth's sacrifice fly made it, 4-1, and Coste chased Maddux from the game by hitting a 1-1 pitch into the left field seats for a three-run homer.
It was the ninth homer of the season for Coste and first since July 27.
Maddux lasted 5 2/3 innings, surrendering seven runs and nine hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
Coste felt Maddux's final line was not indicative of the way he pitched.
Utley added his 31st home run in the seventh off Ramon Troncoso to complete the scoring.
Kyle Kendrick (11-7) did just enough to pick up the win in his 5 2/3-inning stint. The righthander labored through his 99-pitch outing but allowed only one run and three hits despite hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch.
Kendrick, who walked two and struck out three, ran into two-out trouble in the sixth inning by walking Manny Ramirez and yielding a single by James Loney, who collected three of Los Angeles' five hits. But Chad Durbin came on to retire Russell Martin on a shallow flyout to end the threat.
Greg Dobbs recorded two hits and scored twice for Philadelphia, which was swept of a four-game series in Los Angeles from August 11-14. The Phillies (69-59) remained 2 1/2 games behind the New York Mets (72-57) for first place in the National League East.
PHILADELPHIA 9, LA DODGERS 2 ----------------------------
PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Pat Burrell provided the run support Cole Hamels had been lacking of late.
Burrell homered and drove in five runs and Hamels tossed seven solid innings as the Philadelphia Phillies cruised to their fifth win in six games, a 9-2 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.
Ryan Howard and Shane Victorino each added two RBI as the Phillies won their second straight over the Dodgers after being swept of a four-game series at Los Angeles earlier this month.
Burrell did the bulk of his damage against Clayton Kershaw (2-4) with a three-run homer in the first inning and an RBI double in the fifth, when center fielder Matt Kemp lost the ball in the sun. He tied a career high by driving in his fifth run with a single in the sixth off Jason Johnson.
It was Burrell's 10th career five-RBI performance.
Hamels (11-8) limited the Dodgers to two runs and five hits. The lefthander struck out five without a walk, retiring the last eight batters he faced.
Hamels has tossed at least six innings in 14 of his last 15 starts.
While the game featured a pair of talented young southpaws in Hamels and the 20-year-old Kershaw, it also was a battle between two pitchers who have not received much run support this season.
Even though Hamels won his last outing at San Diego, it was only by a 2-1 margin. Prior to that victory, the 24-year-old went seven starts without a win, suffering three losses as the Phillies scored three runs or fewer in five of those games.
Hamels has pitched a career-high 188 2/3 innings thus far this season, surpassing the 183 1/3 he tossed in 2007.
The Dodgers, who have lost four of five, had scored a total of 27 runs for Kershaw in his previous 14 starts - nine of which resulted in no-decisions.
Burrell quickly staked Hamels to a 3-0 lead with his 30th home run of the season. After Kershaw hit Jimmy Rollins with a pitch and Chase Utley singled, Burrell lined an 0-1 pitch just inside the left field foul pole.
Russell Martin belted his 12th home run, a two-run shot in the second, to pull the Dodgers within one. However, the Phillies broke open the game with three runs in the fifth.
Rollins led off with a single and Utley walked before Burrell's fly ball was lost in the sun by Kemp, allowing a run to score. Howard then ended Kershaw's day with a two-run double to right-center that gave the Phillies a 6-2 advantage.
Kershaw was tagged for six runs and seven hits in four-plus innings. He walked two, struck out five and hit a batter.
The Phillies tacked on three runs in the sixth against Johnson. Victorino's two-run single capped the uprising after Burrell's RBI base hit.
PHILADELPHIA 5, LA DODGERS 2 (11 INNINGS) -----------------------------------------
PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Pedro Feliz got to play hero twice in one night.
After tying the game with two outs in the ninth inning, Feliz belted a three-run homer in the 11th to give the Philadelphia Phillies a dramatic 5-2 triumph over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday night.
With the Phillies down to their last out in the ninth against Jonathan Broxton, Feliz delivered a single to right field to plate Shane Victorino and tie the game at 2-2. Two innings later, the 33-year-old Feliz - who entered the contest as a defensive replacement at third base in the seventh - stepped to the plate again with runners on second and third and two outs.
Facing Jason Johnson, Feliz launched the righthander's first offering into the seats in left-center field, giving Philadelphia its sixth win in seven games.
The blast made a winner of Chad Durbin (5-2), who loaded the bases with none out in the 10th but wiggled out of trouble with the help of Feliz, who fielded a grounder by Casey Blake and started a 5-2 double play. Durbin then induced a flyout by Russell Martin to escape unscathed.
Victorino sparked both late-inning rallies for the Phillies (71-59), who climbed within one-half game of the New York Mets (72-59) for first place in the National League East. Victorino singled in the ninth and doubled in the 11th.
With the contest even at 2-2, Victorino opened the 11th by hitting a pitch from Joe Beimel (4-1) into left field and hustling to second base for a double as Manny Ramirez failed to get much on his throw.
Johnson came on for Beimel and walked Chris Coste before Jayson Werth advanced the runners with a groundout to second.
Cole Hamels, Saturday's winning pitcher for the Phillies, batted for Durbin but lifted a weak pop-up to second baseman Pablo Ozuna. Feliz then swatted his 13th homer of the season to send Philadelphia to victory.
It was Feliz's second career walk-off blast, with his first coming on July 25, 2003 as a member of the San Francisco Giants.
The Dodgers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning on James Loney's one-out RBI single with the bases loaded. However, Los Angeles failed to increase its advantage as right fielder Werth made a nice running catch on Nomar Garciaparra's shallow fly down the line and Blake struck out.
Los Angeles also failed to capitalize against Joe Blanton in the second. With two outs, left fielder Pat Burrell misplayed Matt Kemp's deep fly into a double. Kemp then stole third base, but Andre Ethier flied out.
Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda ran into some trouble in the bottom of the inning, when he walked Victorino and hit Werth with a pitch one out later. But the Japanese righthander retired the next two batters to end the frame.
The Dodgers had two on and none out in the fifth, but Blanton escaped the jam by retiring Ethier on a grounder and getting Jeff Kent to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Philadelphia tied the contest in the bottom half, when Carlos Ruiz led off with a single for the Phillies' first hit of the night and went to second on Blanton's sacrifice. One out later, Chase Utley plated Ruiz with a base hit to right-center.
Los Angeles let Blanton off the hook one final time in the sixth after getting two more baserunners with two outs. Howard, not known for his defense, made a diving catch while fully extended on Martin's foul pop-up for the third out.
Kent gave the Dodgers a 2-1 edge in the seventh, completing a two-out rally with an RBI single off Ryan Madson.
Kuroda worked six innings, allowing a run and only two hits - both singles. The 33-year-old walked two and struck out five while also hitting a batter.
Blanton, who is just 1-0 in seven starts for the Phillies since being acquired from the Oakland Athletics in late July, yielded a run and six hits in six frames. The righthander walked three, struck out four and hit a batter.
Kent went 3-for-5 with an RBI for Los Angeles (65-65), which remained three games behind Arizona (68-62) in the NL West.
PHILADELPHIA 5, LOS ANGELES 0 -----------------------------
PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- What goes around, comes around. Just ask the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Just 11 days ago the Dodgers swept the Philadelphia Phillies in a four-game series in Los Angeles for the first time since 1962. The Phillies returned the favor, completing a sweep of the Dodgers in a four-game series in Philadelphia for the first time since 1929 with a 5-0 win on Monday night.
Brett Myers (7-10), who has been dominant since returning to the rotation on July 23, extended his scoreless inning streak to a career-best 16 innings while Jimmy Rollins snapped out of a 2-for-25 slump with three hits and two RBI.
The Dodgers had 13 hits, but failed to get a runner home, stranding 14. Los Angeles also had 16 base runners in the game.
The Phillies opened the scoring in the second. Jayson Werth walked and Pedro Feliz singled to lead off the frame. Casey Blake speared a Chris Coste liner for the first out, and following a Myers' sacrifice bunt, Rollins followed with a two-run single to left.
Myers, who tossed his third career shutout in his last outing, continued to put up zeroes despite allowing at least one hit in each of the first seven innings and nine overall. The burly right-hander countered that with eight strikeouts while his defense turned two double plays.
Myers improved to 4-1 with a 1.66 ERA in his seven starts since being recalled from the minors.
Philadelphia added another run in the fifth. Rollins doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third on an Utley single. He came home on when Pat Burrell grounded into a double play.
Los Angeles, which had runners in scoring position in seven innings, had its best of many chances to score in the seventh. With the bases loaded and one-out, Myers struck out Jeff Kent and then got Manny Ramirez to line out to deep left to end the threat.
Dodger starter Chad Billingsley (12-10) was touched for his first loss since July 19. He allowed just three runs over six innings in tossing his fourth straight quality start and 16th of the season.
The Phillies added two more insurance runs in the seventh off reliever Chan Ho Park. Ryan Howard doubled to lead off the frame and scored on Werth's RBI single. Werth then came around to score from second on a RBI groundout by Coste.
JC Romero allowed two singles before retiring the next three batters in order for a scoreless eighth while Clay Condrey worked out of a jam in the ninth to preserve the shutout.
