Dodgers' late rally falls short against Phillies, 5-3

The Dodgers' game Monday night had all the ingredients of a mismatch, the Philadelphia Phillies coming to town with baseball's best record against the foundering, sub-.500 Dodgers.

The Phillies also opened the Dodgers' six-game homestand at Dodger Stadium by starting perhaps the

National League's best pitcher, right-hander Roy Halladay, the NL starter in this year's All-Star game.

Tilting the scales further, Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda, despite a sparkling career record against the Phillies, hadn't won a game in which he had given up one or more runs since April 24, and he gave up three runs in the first two innings Monday.

Kuroda then settled down, and the Dodgers made of game of it by clawing back against the Phillies' bullpen after repeatedly leaving runners in scoring position against Halladay.

But Philadelphia held on for a 5-3 victory in front of an announced 35,380.

The Dodgers scored twice in a busy eighth inning to cut the Phillies' lead to 4-3.

First, Matt Kemp singled against reliever Michael Stutes, stole second base and scored on Aaron Miles' single.

Later, pinch-hitter Juan Rivera singled against Brad Lidge to drive in Miles.

Dee Gordon then grounded to second baseman Chase Utley, and the ball and Rivera reached Utley at the same time. As both players crumpled to the ground, Rivera was called out for runner's interference and left the game hobbling.

The extent of Rivera's injury wasn't immediately known.

But Shane Victorino then hit a home run against Mike MacDougal in the ninth inning to widen Philadelphia's lead to 5-3.

Victorino finished three for five and scored three times. The center fielder received a three-game suspension after he and the Phillies were involved in a brawl with the Giants in San Francisco over the weekend. But because Victorino is appealing the penalty, he was in the lineup.

This was a rematch of the last time Halladay faced the Dodgers, Aug. 30, 2010, when Kuroda took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and the Dodgers won, 3-0.

On Monday, though, Kuroda had almost no margin for error. He ended up giving up four runs (three of them earned) and nine hits in 61/3 innings.

Kuroda, speaking through an interpreter, said that the Phillies were "one of the best" lineups he has faced this season and that giving them early runs was frustrating.

"Especially facing a pitcher like Halladay … there's a lot of pressure on our lineup, on our offense," Kuroda said.

Halladay, too, gave up nine hits but only one run as the frustrated Dodgers couldn't cash in with runners in scoring position.

The Phillies, of course, were the Dodgers' postseason nemesis in 2008 and 2009 when Philadelphia beat the Dodgers both years to win the NL Championship Series. (The Phillies won the World Seriesin 2008 and lost in 2009.)

The Dodgers scratched their one run against Halladay in the fifth inning when Jamey Carroll singled, Kuroda bunted a ball that stayed just inside the first base line for a hit and, two outs later, Carroll scored when Casey Blake grounded out.

Dodgers, Rafael Furcal make a little noise

The malaise that is this Dodgers season reached its 100th game Saturday night and appeared set to take further hold after only a half inning.

Dodgers starter Ted Lilly had given up two singles, two doubles and three runs to the Washington Nationals

before many fans had found their seats at Dodger Stadium.

But on this night, the Dodgers and Lilly -- who slugged a two-run double and had three runs batted in overall to help his cause -- declined to go quietly and made a game of it.

Shortstop Rafael Furcal, who has struggled at the plate since returning from the disabled list July 3, hit a walk-off double against Washington reliever Ryan Mattheus to score Trent Oeltjen in the bottom of the ninth inning and give the Dodgers a 7-6 win.

That was "was a huge hit for him," Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said. "He's been down" about his slump "so it's good to see that."

Mattingly also praised his bullpen for keeping the Dodgers (44-56) in the game in the final four innings, adding that "It was a nice win from the standpoint that the guys came back."

Dodgers closer Javy Guerra (2-0), who pitched a scoreless ninth inning, earned the victory.

The Dodgers' seven runs and 14 hits were their most since they exploded for 15 runs and 25 hits against the Twins in Minnesota on June 27.

The Dodgers tied Saturday's game, 6-6, in the seventh inning when pinch-runner Eugenio Velez scored from third base on a wild pitch by Nationals reliever Henry Rodriguez.

Velez had replaced catcher Dioner Navarro, who walked, and then he stole second base and moved to third base when Jamey Carroll grounded out.

Though the Dodgers' sparse run production has been their main concern this season, Lilly's uneven performance over the last two months also raises questions.

In five of his last seven starts, the left-hander has allowed four or more earned runs, and his earned-run average climbed to 5.08 in Saturday's outing.

After Lilly spotted Washington the three runs in the first inning, the Dodgers came back with a run in the first inning when Furcal scored on Matt Kemp's sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers scored again in the second inning when Lilly bunted and a sliding James Loney scored from third base as catcher Wilson Ramos bobbled the throw at home plate.

The Nationals then scored three more times against Lilly in the third inning on a two-run double by Rick Ankiel and a run-scoring infield single by Ian Desmond.

But in the Dodgers' half of the third inning, Kemp doubled, Juan Rivera singled and Kemp tagged and scored on Loney's sacrifice fly.

After Juan Uribe singled, Washington intentionally walked Dioner Navarro to load the bases and get to Lilly. But the pitcher lined his double to right-center field, cutting the Nationals' lead to 6-5. It was only his third hit of the season.

"Fortunately, I was able to help" with the bat because "I put us in a big hole," Lilly said. "We were able to come back, in large part due to the work the bullpen did. Then obviously we got some clutch hits as the game went on."

National League roundup: L.A. breaks up no-hitter in 9th and wins

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Dodgers got their first hit with two out in the ninth inning Saturday and still beat the San Diego Padres, 1-0, when Dioner Navarro singled in Juan Uribe for the unlikely victory.
Uribe was down to his last strike when he drove a pitch from Luke Gregerson (2-2) over the head of

leftfielder Chris Denorfia for Los Angeles' first hit and only the second hit of the game for either team. The Padres have never had a no-hitter in their 43-year history.
Navarro then looped a 1-2 pitch into short right-center to give the Dodgers three consecutive shutout victories for the first time since July 1991. Los Angeles has won nine of its last 19 games, and seven of those victories have been shutouts.
Aaron Harang started for San Diego and worked six innings, finishing with six strikeouts and three walks. Josh Spence came on and struck out his only batter, Andre Ethier, before Chad Qualls escaped a jam to keep the game scoreless.
The Padres got only one hit themselves against rookie right-hander Rubby De La Rosa and three relievers.
ATLANTA 4, PHILADELPHIA 1 (11 innings): Alex Gonzalez hit the go-ahead RBI single and Brian McCann added a two-run homer in the 11th inning to lift the visiting Braves. . Philadelphia starter Cliff Lee accounted for the Phillies' only run with his first career homer off Tommy Hanson.
CHICAGO 6, PITTSBURGH 3: Ryan Dempster won for the first time in five starts despite arguing with manager Mike Quade after he was lifted after five innings, and the visiting Cubs earned their second win in three games. Dempster (6-6) was seen throwing equipment and arguing vehemently with Quade when he was pinch-hit for to lead off the sixth.
Cincinnati 8, Milwaukee 4 (10 innings): The Reds scored five runs in the top of the 10th inning.
COLORADO 2, WASHINGTON 1: Ubaldo Jimenez allowed one run in eight innings and Todd Helton drove in both runs for the visiting Rockies. Jimenez (4-8) struck out eight, allowed five hits and walked one.
FLORIDA 6, HOUSTON 1: Ricky Nolasco tossed a seven-hitter for his sixth career complete game and Logan Morrison hit a bases-loaded triple in host Florida's four-run fifth inning.
San Francisco 3, N.Y. Mets 1: Tim Lincecum labored through six innings to win for the second time in his past eight starts and Pablo Sandoval had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 20 games for the host Giants.
ST. LOUIS 7, ARIZONA 6: Albert Pujols tied it in the eighth inning with his first home run since returning from the disabled list and rookie pinch-hitter Tony Cruz hit a game-ending RBI double in the ninth, capping the host Cardinals' comeback from a four-run deficit.

Dodgers' Kershaw knocked around by Angels

Just six days after Clayton Kershaw outlasted Jered Weaver in a marquee pitcher's duel, the major league strikeout leader was no match for the pitcher with the AL's best ERA in a one-sided rematch.
Weaver got a measure of payback against Kershaw with eight solid innings and Vernon Wells homered, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-1 victory over the Dodgers on Saturday night.
This was the third time Weaver and Kershaw have hooked up in their young careers. Last Sunday at Dodger

Stadium, Kershaw struck out 11 in a complete-game 3-2 victory, while Weaver yielded a run over seven innings in a no-decision. On May 22, 2009, the Angels won 3-1 with each pitcher allowing a run and receiving a no-decision.
"When you don't have your best stuff, you've gotta limit them to three runs over six—not six over six—especially against a guy like Weave," Kershaw said. "It's a guaranteed loss if you give up six."
Kershaw (8-4) was charged with a season-high seven runs, six earned, and nine hits in six innings. He struck out 10 and walked one.
It was the first time in the left-hander's four-year career that he reached double digits in Ks in three consecutive starts, and he increased his season total to 138—seven more than Philadelphia's Roy Halladay.
"I think Kersh likes getting a matchup like Weaver—or (Justin) Verlander if it's Detroit, or (Tim) Lincecum if it's San Francisco, if it's any one of those guys in Philly. I think he likes that challenge," manager Don Mattingly said.
"It's like facing Randy Johnson. I mean, somebody's got to take him on for six innings and give you a chance to scratch a run out. You may not want that matchup, but you've got to be willing to be the guy that says: 'I'm throwing zeros today with you.'"
Kershaw struck out the side on 15 pitches in the fifth, but that was after the Angels had staked Weaver to a 6-1 lead. Kershaw was 6-0 with a 2.64 ERA in 11 starts since his previous loss on April 26 at Florida.
"The guys came out and did a heck of a job tonight and got to one of the best pitchers in the game," Weaver said. "Anytime you get a six-run lead, it takes a lot of pressure off me. It was great to see. We were able to get some two-out hits in key situations. Obviously, Vernon hit a big home run to get it going. And when he goes, we go."
The Angels grabbed a 3-0 lead in the third after No. 9 hitter Jeff Mathis led off with a double. Mathis scored from third when rookie shortstop Dee Gordon tried for the out at the plate on a grounder by Erick Aybar and threw the ball over Dioner Navarro's head.
One out later, Wells drove a 2-0 pitch to left for his 12th homer and seventh in 17 games. He also homered against Kershaw the last time the ace faced the Angels.
The Angels made it 6-0 in the fourth. Aybar had a two-out RBI single and Bobby Abreu singled in a pair of runs.
"Balls found some holes, and some of them were bloops," Kershaw said. "I made some bad pitches. I probable needed to throw one out of the strike zone right there to Abreu with two strikes. And then, obviously, the pitch to Wells was a misfire. Those were two pitches I would like to have back."
Weaver (10-4) won his fourth straight decision over six starts, allowing a run and four hits and striking out eight. Last season's major league strikeout leader reduced his ERA to 1.92, giving up his only run in the fifth on Trent Oeltjen's sacrifice fly.
"I'm focused regardless of who's out there," Weaver said. "I'm not going up against the other pitcher. I'm going up against the other team."
It was the second time in their respective careers that Kershaw and Weaver have been matched up against the same pitcher in consecutive starts during the regular season. Kershaw won both outings against San Diego's Kevin Correia in May 2010. Weaver's final two starts in 2009 were against Oakland's Gio Gonzalez, and he won the rematch with Gonzalez after losing the first one.
"You think that you need to change things up just because you faced them not too long ago," Weaver said. "But I've learned that you've just got to keep pitching to your strengths and try to hit their weaknesses. So you don't want to change too many things. You just want to keep going with what worked last time."
The Dodgers threatened in the fourth, but Weaver retired Matt Kemp on an inning-ending double-play grounder to third. Kemp, who began the day first in the NL in homers, second in batting average and third in RBIs, has grounded into a team-high 11 double plays.
NOTES: The Angels are averaging 38,775 in attendance through their first 40 home dates. The Dodgers are averaging 36,084 through 43 home dates. The Angels have never finished a season with a higher home attendance total than their Southern California rivals. ... A ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Garret Anderson, who helped the Angels win Game 7 of the 2002 World Series with a tiebreaking three-run double against San Francisco. He spent his final big league season with the Dodgers last year. ... Mike Scioscia's 131st interleague victory as a manager tied Joe Torre's record. Sunday's series finale ends the Angels' slate against NL clubs.

Warm day kindles White Sox’ fire in 8-3 win over Dodgers

Turns out, all the White Sox

needed was to see their shadows.

A little sun went a long way for Alexei Ramirez and his teammates Sunday as the Sox’ bats came alive for the third time in four games in an 8-3 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Sox are now 5-0-1 in their last six series. They’re 11-5 during that stretch, which they believe is reminiscent of their run last summer that brought them back into contention after a poor start.

‘‘It makes it easier when it’s warmer out,’’ said Paul Konerko, who was 0-for-3 as the designated hitter but pushed in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth. ‘‘It’s a combination of that and guys just knowing the team wouldn’t [slump] like that forever. [It’s] similar to last year when we got off to a slow start for six or seven weeks before we really came on.

And why that happens, I don’t know, but hopefully next year it won’t happen again. Hopefully that’s behind us now.’’

Also strikingly similar to last year is that interleague games are where the Sox are starting to turn things around. They were 15-3 against ­National League opponents in 2010 and have won their last 15 series against NL teams.

Ramirez hit a two-run homer off Hiroki Kuroda (5-4) to jump-start the Sox in the first inning and finished with four hits and five RBI to tie career highs in both categories. Leadoff hitter Juan Pierre was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and A.J. Pierzynski also homered.

‘‘I definitely feel like the weather makes a difference,’’ Ramirez said through a translator. ‘‘It’s a lot easier to play. It feels like Cuba.’’

Adam Dunn, who has refused to get down on himself during his recent funk, showed signs of breaking out of it, going 1-for-2 with an RBI single and three walks.

‘‘I’m gonna fix it. It’s just a matter of how or when,’’ Dunn said. ‘‘It’s just one of those things. Sitting around pouting about it, moping about it isn’t going to change anything. . . . I want [the pitcher] to look at me and say, ‘He’s still dangerous. I don’t care what he’s hitting.’ If you’ve got that bad body language, like you’re pouting or something, what’s that solve?

‘‘[I’ve] been trying to almost get out of this stupid funk that I’m in by one swing, swinging as hard as I can — and that’s really not me. I don’t swing as hard as I can. I never have. I need to just relax and get back to the basics of seeing it and hitting it.’’

Manager Ozzie Guillen’s experiment with a six-man rotation continued to work, with starter Edwin Jackson (4-5) allowing only one run and five hits in 52/3 innings. Jackson also struck out seven and walked two.

‘‘It’s not bad — it’s definitely something new,’’ Jackson said of the extra man in the rotation. ‘‘It’s baseball. It’s a game of adjustments. . . . Regardless if it’s six days or seven days off, you have to be ready and mentally prepared to go in when it’s your day.’’

Jackson is 2-2 with a 2.07 ERA in his last three starts and has 28 strikeouts in his last six starts.

No. 8 hitter Jerry Sands had a career-high four hits for the Dodgers. Andre Either left the game with a bruised right elbow and bruised lower back after smashing into the fence trying to catch a drive by Juan Pierre in the fourth inning, and catcher Rod Barajas left the game with a sprained right wrist after Pierre slid into him on Konerko’s sacrifice fly. X-rays on both players were negative. Both were listed as day-to-day.

MLB: Padres 5, Dodgers 2

Cameron Maybin's bases-loaded single with two outs capped a three-run eighth inning as the visiting San Diego Padres defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 on Saturday.

Andre Ethier extended his hitting streak to 26 games with a single into left field in the fourth inning. Ethier, who went 2-for-4, extended the longest April hitting streak in major league history and the longest in any month since 2009.

Tied at two in the top of the eighth inning, the Padres took the lead with three runs off Matt Guerrier (2-2), who gave up three singles, two intentional walks and a wild pitch that scored a run to break a 2-2 tie.

Luke Gregerson (1-1) earned the win in relief of starter Tim Stauffer, who struck out seven and allowed two runs on four hits over 6 2/3 innings. Heath Bell pitched a scoreless ninth inning to record his sixth save.

Hideki Kuroda gave up two runs while striking out seven over seven innings for the Dodgers, who dropped to 1-13 when trailing after six innings.

San Diego entered the game having lost three straight games and seven of their last eight.

SF Giants' title a downer to Dodgers fans

Giants fans thought last season was torture? Just imagine how it felt to be a Dodgers fan watching the team's sworn enemies win the World Series.
"It was pretty brutal," Dodgers fans Jeremy Teeguarden said as he shook his hanging head at the not-distant-enough memory. "I watched a couple of the games but, really, it was pretty much unbearable to watch.
"Yeah, not good."
Teeguarden and his 5-year-old son, Ethan, were among the couple of hundred Dodgers fans who dared to wear their True Blue colors Saturday to Scottsdale Stadium, spring training home of your (not their) world champion Giants.
They were outnumbered and outheckled in a sellout crowd of 12,081, a spring training record for the Giants in Scottsdale. All they could do was sit there and take it as the Giants beat the Dodgers 8-7.
Dodgers fans might as well get used to it. Until the Dodgers win another World Series - it's been almost 23 years - they're going to hear all about it from Giants fans who went 56 years between banners.
"The rest of our family is Giants fans from Santa Cruz," Teeguarden said. "I've been hearing it, especially from my mother-in-law. She is the worst. She hasn't stopped talking.
"We were pretty brutal to them for 20, 22 years. We always had the '88 championship."
Ah, yes, the "Win One with the Gimper" fallback position. Dodgers fans have played that card ever since Kirk Gibson limped out his home run against the A's in the 1988 World Series.
From that day, all arguments with a Giants fan - from umpire calls to who rides shotgun - ended with a Dodgers fans namedropping Gibson, then showing the World Series ring finger. That always took care of that.
"We've always had Kirk Gibson. We never let them forget about that," said Dodgers fan Chris Zapata, a 32-year-old from Chandler, Ariz., who names Fernando Valenzuela as his hero.
"I got family in San Francisco, lot of nephews and nieces, so they're happy now. It was their first one, so you got to give them that, I guess."
At least Zapata can ignore their phone calls when he is tired of hearing all about it. Not Mike MacEachen, a former assistant track coach at Cal who has been a Dodgers fan for all of his 60 years.
MacEachen moved to Albuquerque and is still surrounded by Giants fans. There was 9-year-old son Ian to his right and 7-year-old son Riley to his left at Saturday's game. Both boys wore black Tim Lincecum shirts, with their dad stuck in the middle in Dodgers blue.
"They hit their heads when they were little," MacEachen said as he tried to explain away his obvious failure as a father to rear Dodgers fans. After all, his brother is a Dodgers fan, his dad was a Dodgers fan, and his dad's dad was a Dodgers fan.
He used to go to Dodgers spring training games in Florida as a child and play pickup games with the players' kids underneath the bleachers. He comes to spring training now, and he'd have to go under the bleachers just to escape the "Beat L.A." jeers.
"We've grown up Dodgers fans, so I know the rivalry is intense," MacEachen said. "I really got to where I had a tough time with the Giants when that guy Juan Marichal hit the catcher with a bat. I go way back. It's been in my family forever.
"I teach my boys, if the Giants disappeared forever, no one would care."
Larry Robideaux, for one, doesn't mind that the Giants got their own ring. The Dodgers fan from Ventura County said he cheered for the Giants during the World Series because he liked the way they scrapped and played ball.
Besides, if the drunk Giants fan sitting behind him Saturday ever got out of hand, all Robideaux had to do was remind him the Dodgers have won more rings than the Giants since the teams moved west.