Recap: Pittsburgh vs. Los Angeles
Sports Network | September 16, 2008
Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Derek Lowe tossed seven strong innings and Casey Blake had three hits and a pair of RBI as the Los Angeles Dodgers continued their strong play in the month of September with a 6-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
After taking two of three from the D'Backs to close out a dismal August, the Dodgers have rattled off wins in 12 of 14 games, including a three-game sweep of Arizona from September 5-7. That run, which includes wins in the first two games of this four-game set, allowed LA to vault five games ahead of Arizona for the NL West lead. The D'Backs host the Giants later Tuesday.
Blake finished a double short of the cycle and scored twice while Manny Ramirez extended his hitting streak to seven games with a 3-for-5 effort, with an RBI double. Lowe (14-11) surrendered just five hits and one run while fanning three without issuing a walk. The right-hander has now won four straight starts and six of his last seven decisions.
Jeff Karstens (2-6) gave up 11 hits and five runs -- two earned -- while walking one and setting down two on strikes in dropping his sixth straight start for the Bucs, who have lost eight of their last 11 games. Ryan Doumit and Brandon Moss knocked in the Pirates' runs.
Blake got LA on the board with his 10th home run in Dodger blue leading off the second. LA loaded the bases later in the frame on a pair of singles and an error. Russell Martin then came through with a sacrifice fly for the second out but Andre Ethier hit an RBI single to left and Ramirez followed with a run-scoring double to make it a 4-0 game.
Blake started the next inning with a triple and Blake DeWitt lofted a sac fly to left for a quick run. It stayed 5-0 until three straight Pirate singles from Freddy Sanchez, Nate McLouth and Doumit started the fourth, the last of which plated a run. A double play ball from Moss killed the momentum, however, and the Bucs had to settle for a single run.
Jesse Chavez relieved Karstens in the sixth and Blake flared an RBI single to right. Martin drew a leadoff walk, moved up on a single from Ramirez and stole third to put himself in a position to score easily for a 6-1 advantage.
Chan Ho Park tossed a scoreless eighth and Joe Beimel entered for the ninth. McLouth greeted him with a double and moved to third on a fly out. Moss hit a sacrifice fly to make it 6-2 and Doug Mientkiewicz was allowed to reach on an error. Beimel exited in favor of Jonathan Broxton, who got Andy LaRoche swinging to clinch the win.
Los Angeles leads the season series 4-1 after taking two of three April 14-16 at Chavez Ravine...The Dodgers are now 6-2 on a 10-game road trip...Wednesday's scheduled starters are Chad Billingsley (15-10) for Los Angeles and Zach Duke (5-14) for Pittsburgh.
