Behind two home runs from Manny and Ethier the Dodgers remain unbeaten at home this season pounding the Rockies 9 - 5 even while Martin, Furcal, and Blake rested. The Dodgers have the longest winning streak in baseball at seven while also going 5 - 0 at home during their first homestand.
Manny got the scoring going with two vicious solo line drive home runs and then Andre took over from there with a three run rope into the pavilion, and a solo home run that looked to carry 1/2 way up the bleachers.
Chad was on his game and might have been able to go further if not having to expend further energy getting out of two jams caused by his outfielders. Manny dropped a simple ball for an error. Later in the game Kemp lost a fly ball to CF that was ruled a double and become the first hit of the game. He worked out of both jams and made it to the 6th before giving up any runs.
Mota came in to start the 7th and failed to record an out, giving up a single to Dexter Fowler and walking Jeff Baker. Will Ohman came in and got Seth Smith to pop out on a bunt and then Todd Helton lined into a double play to end the threat. Ohman added an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning to help the Dodgers' cause but then gave up a homerun to Ian Stewart in the 8th before being replaced by Ramon Troncoso. After Troncoso allowed a walk and a single to start the 9th he was pulled in favor of Ronald Belisario, the impromptu closer because of Broxton's five out save yesterday.
Belisario closed out a game that was much more tense then the final score indicated with a walk and two strikeouts. Amazingly, Belisario threw all fastballs (16 pitches in total), never hitting lower than 92 on the radar gun, and still seemed unhittable. He is quickly earning Torre's trust as a late inning reliever. The only worry is that Torre will wear him out through overuse, Belisario has thrown four innings the last four days. Belisario doesn't have a good nickname yet, and lets hope it doesn't become EDRB. I'll have an analysis of his season so far soon.
The victory brings the Dodgers to 9-3 and guarantees that they will win their 3rd series in a row. Keep it up guys. Tommorow at 1:05 PM James McDonald starts against Ubaldo Jimenez, who had the hardest average fastball last year among qualifying starters. Jimenez is very tough but hopefully the Dodgers can keep their winning streak going.