Hiroki Kuroda was dominant tonight, as he used his best outing of the season to help the Dodgers beat the White Sox 5-2 at US Cellular Field. Kuroda gave up only two hits in his first eight innings, one of which was a Paul Konerko homer in the second to cut the Dodger lead to 3-1. Kuroda got the first two outs of the ninth inning, pushing his run to 16 straight batters retired. However, successive hits cut the lead to 5-2, ending Kuroda's evening. He ended up with a season-high nine strikeouts, the second-best game of his career.
Jonathan Broxton closed out the game by striking out Jim Thome on three pitches, earning his 18th save.
The Dodgers got on the board early with a run in the first inning, only their fourth opening-inning run of June. James Loney provided a two-run shot in the second inning, his third home run in four games. A two-run Casey Blake Beard Single provided some eighth inning insurance runs for the Dodgers.
John Danks of the White Sox really got into a groove after the Loney home run. He retired 18 of his final 19 batters, allowing only a walk to Andre Ethier.
Mitch Jones got his first MLB extra-base hit with an eighth-inning double. Bill Shaikin tells us Jones will likely start again at DH on Thursday.
The Dodgers improved to 8-5 in interleague play this season, with five games left against AL foes.
Meanwhile, in Albuquerque, Manny Ramirez began his rehab assignment with a strikeout and a groundout, before leaving the game as scheduled. He is scheduled to play about five innings Wednesday and seven more on Thursday.
WP - Hiroki Kuroda (2-3): 8.2 IP, 4 hits, 2 runs, 9 strikeouts
LP - John Danks (5-6): 7 IP, 3 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts
Sv - Jonathan Broxton (18): 1 batter, 1 strikeout