Matt Kemp hit his fourth home run in six games, leading the Dodgers to a 7-3 win over the Marlins, in support of Vicente Padilla, who took a shutout into the seventh inning and pitched his third straight quality start.
Kemp's home run traveled over halfway up the left field pavilion, capping a four-run second inning that put the Dodgers ahead for good. Casey Blake and Andre Ethier later added solo home runs for the Dodgers, who have eight home runs in their last four games, immediately following a stretch of just seven home runs in 14 games. Tonight was the fourth game of the season that the Dodgers have hit three or more home runs, and their second such game in the last four.
In addition to power, the Dodgers also brought the speed tonight, collecting five steals. It was the first time they have had that many steals in one game since 2007, when they did it twice (April 15 and June 29) against Tall Chris Young of the Padres.
Padilla has been outstanding since his return from the disabled list, with a 3.12 ERA in four starts, with three walks and 25 strikeouts in 26 innings. Tonight Padilla took a shutout into the seventh inning, until Notre Dame High School grad Mike Stanton hit a two-run home run. Padilla had nine strikeouts and no walks in 6 2/3 innings tonight, pushing his totals on the season to nine walks and 46 strikeouts. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is one of the best in baseball
| Highest K/BB Ratio in MLB 2010 | ||||
| Pitcher | IP | BB | K | K/BB |
| Cliff Lee | 103.2 | 6 | 89 | 14.83 |
| Luke Gregerson | 40.1 | 6 | 51 | 8.50 |
| Roy Halladay | 139.0 | 18 | 119 | 6.61 |
| Vicente Padilla | 47.2 | 9 | 48 | 5.33 |
| *minimum 40 IP | ||||
Furcal On Run Scoring Binge
Rafael Furcal not only extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a two-run single in the second inning, but also scored a run for his 12th straight game. The run-scoring streak is the longest by a Dodger since Gil Hodges in 1953:
| Player | Year | G | PA | R | BA/OBP/SLG | OPS |
| Hodges |
1953 | 12 | 52 | 16 | .426/.481/.979 | 1.459 |
| Furcal | 2010 | 12 | 58 | 17 | .462/.500/.750 | 1.250 |
According to Elias, Zack Wheat had a 13-game run scoring streak in 1925.
Hiroki Kuroda and Josh Johnson face off tomorrow night in the series finale.
WP - Vicente Padilla (3-2): 6 2/3 IP, 6 hits, 2 runs, 9 strikeouts
LP - Chris Volstad (4-8): 3 IP, 5 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts
Sv - Jonathan Broxton (18): 2 up, 2 down (8 pitches)