Dodgers Make All Their Hits Count In Win Over Braves

The Dodgers only had four hits on Saturday night, but all of them left the yard. Hanley Ramirez hit two of the four home runs, leading the Dodgers to a 6-2 win over the Braves on Saturday night at Turner Field.

Trey Hillman ran his managerial record to 1-0 this season.

Ramirez hit his first home run in the second inning, then James Loney followed with his second home run in three days. Luis Cruz followed with his third home run of the season, giving the Dodgers three long balls in four pitches and their first back-to-back-to-back home runs since June 12, 2007, aka the Hong Chih-Kuo bat flip game.

For Cruz, it snapped his homer-less (yet still productive) streak of 20 games and 75 plate appearances, which was the longest homer-less streak on the Dodgers active roster. It marked the third consecutive game, with Loney on Thursday (67 games, 198 plate appearances) and Andre Ethier on Friday (30 games, 129 plate appearances), that the Dodger with the longest active homerless streak snapped his skid.

Matt Kemp and Ethier walked in the sixth inning, giving Ramirez the opportunity to add to the Dodgers lead, and he did just that with a line drive into the left field seats for a three-run home run and a 6-1 advantage. Ramirez now has 27 RBI in 23 games as a Dodger.

The way the bottom of the first inning started for Aaron Harang, his night figured to be a short one. He allowed a double and three walks in the opening frame, and 20 of his 28 pitches were balls. But he somehow managed to allow only one run, then didn't allow much else after that.

Harang pitched into the seventh inning, allowing one run on four hits. He walked five, but also struck out eight, and picked up his ninth win of the year.

The Dodgers are now 9-26 since moving to Los Angeles in games that they didn't have a single. The last such win came on June 28, 2008, when the Dodgers didn't have any singles, doubles, triples, or home runs, but still beat the Angels 1-0.

Down 6-1 in the eighth, the Braves loaded the bases against Javy Guerra and Shawn Tolleson. Kenley Jansen came in up five runs, but with the tying run on deck it technically qualified as a save situation. Martin Prado tagged Jansen for a solo home run in the ninth inning, but Jansen recorded four outs for his 25th save of the year.

Up Next

The Dodgers go for the series win on Sunday morning, and will send the undefeated bearded Chad Billingsley to the mound. Mike Minor takes the mound for the Braves, hoping to reclaim the National League lead that Joe Blanton stole from him on Thursday.

Tonight's Particulars

Home Runs: Hanley Ramirez 2 (18), James Loney (4), Luis Cruz (3)

WP - Aaron Harang (9-7): 6 2/3 IP, 5 hits, 1 run, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts

LP - Ben Sheets (4-3): 6 IP, 4 hits, 6 runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts

Sv - Kenley Jansen (25): 1 1/3 IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 3 strikeouts