A MILE-HIGH VICTORY L.A. MAKES MOVE UP IN NL WEST DODGERS 4, COLORADO 3.Byline: RICH HAMMOND Rich Hammond Los Angeles Daily News sports writer. Instrumental in bringing the Los Angeles Kings hockey organization closer to the fans. He is the atypical "what a guy" to Kings fans everywhere. Rich Hammond on himself. Staff Writer Brad Penny Bradley Wayne Penny[1] (born May 24, 1978 in Blackwell, Oklahoma)[2] is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers.[3] Early career starting on three days' rest in mid-August? Shea Hillenbrand Shea Matthew Hillenbrand[1] (born July 27, 1975 in Mesa, Arizona)[2] is a Major League Baseball third baseman. A native of Mesa, Arizona, Hillenbrand attended Mountain View High School there, excelling in both baseball, as a shortstop, and soccer. hitting cleanup? Russell Martin
Six weeks remain in the season, and the Dodgers still need to elevate themselves into a playoff spot. Yet as the Dodgers prepare for a rough stretch -- with 16 of their next 19 games on the road -- there is reason for optimism, particularly after almost all the breaks went their way Sunday afternoon. Penny battled a high pitch count but pitched five strong innings. Martin caught the whole game and had a crucial single. Ramon Martinez Ramon Martinez is the name of several people:
"This was the biggest win of the our season so far," said Dodgers manager Grady Little William Grady Little (born March 30, 1950 in Abilene, Texas) is a manager in Major League Baseball. He guided the Boston Red Sox from 2002 to 2003, and has been manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2006. , whose team took two of three games from Colorado and won a series for the first time since July 16-18 against Philadelphia. Martinez, whose second-inning single gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead, came up in the eighth inning with one out, the bases loaded and the Dodgers trailing 3-2. The Dodgers seemed on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of another loss after Todd Helton Todd Lynn Helton[1] (born August 20, 1973 in Knoxville, Tennessee)[2] is a Major League Baseball first baseman who has played for the Colorado Rockies since the 1997 season. hit a two-run home run off Scott Proctor Scott Christopher Proctor (born January 2 , 1977 in Stuart, Florida) is a major league relief pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was drafted in the 17th round of the 1995 MLB Draft by the New York Mets out of Martin County High School, but decided to attend Florida in the eighth to give the Rockies the lead. Martinez took three pitches, then lined a 2-1 fastball from Jeremy Affeldt into center field to score Andre Ethier and Martin for a 4-3 lead. Martinez raised his average from .167 to .180 with two hits Sunday. "I was watching (Jeff Kent's) at-bat and I noticed that (Affeldt) wasn't throwing a lot of strikes," Martinez said. "I wanted to take a strike and make sure I got a pitch to hit. "I've been working hard. I've been going through a little slump -- all year, I guess -- but I've been working hard with Manny Manny may refer to: In nobility:
After weeks of sustained bad news, the Dodgers got a lift. They leapfrogged the Rockies for third place in the National League West and made a positive move in the division for the first time since July 26. That day's victory gave them a 11/2-game lead in the division. Now the Dodgers trail first-place Arizona by 61/2games. That's a wide margin, particularly since the Diamondbacks are playing well, but the Dodgers trail San Diego by just 21/2games for the wild card. With 38 games remaining, that's a manageable deficit. "It's always big to win. Every game is big right now," Martin said. "They all add up." Sunday's victory wasn't a masterpiece, but it felt fine to the Dodgers, especially since it came just a few hours after they lost to the Rockies 7-4 in a game that went 14 innings and took five-plus hours to play. That loss left the Dodgers' bullpen depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d -- they used six relievers -- and put pressure on Penny, who volunteered to start on three days' rest for the first time since he was a rookie with Florida in 2000. Penny seemed destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. for a quick exit when he threw 21pitches in the first inning. Penny threw 63 pitches through three innings -- Cory Sullivan had a 17-pitch at-bat -- but didn't allow a hit. Colorado trailed 2-0, on Matt Kemp's first-inning sacrifice fly and Martinez's second-inning single, when it threatened in the fourth. Matt Holliday led off with a walk and moved to third on Helton's double. Garrett Atkins walked to load the bases, then Brad Hawpe hit a low liner to center field. Juan Pierre made a diving catch and Holliday scored from third, but Pierre's catch saved at least another run. The Dodgers followed with another defensive gem. Troy Tulowitzki singled up the middle to load the bases, but shortstop Rafael Furcal prevented the ball from going into center field. Helton took a wide turn around third base, unaware that the ball had been stopped, and Furcal furcal /fur·cal/ (fur´k'l) shaped like a fork; forked. fur·cal adj. Forked. furcal forked. threw to third for the out. Penny left after five innings. He threw 111 pitches, 39 of which were hit foul. He allowed two hits, walked five and struck out three, and seemed on track for a victory until Helton's home run off Proctor. "I was a little wild," Penny said. "The walks killed me. I threw some close pitches. We needed to win that game bad, especially with us going on the road. That was important for the whole team." Proctor (2-0) ended up the winner, thanks to Martinez's heroics. Jorge Julio (0-4) took the loss, as he allowed Ethier's walk and Martin's single before Martinez singled against Affeldt. Dodgers closer Takashi Saito struck out the side in the ninthinning for his 33rd save. rich.hammond@dailynews.com (818) 713-3611 DODGERS TODAY Off day CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) The Dodgers' Rafael Furcal scores on a sacrifice fly by Matt Kemp in the first inning Sunday against Colorado. Keith Birmingham/Staff Photographer (2) Colorado's Kazuo Matsui jumps to avoid the Dodgers' Rafael Furcal at second base. Furcal was thrown out on the play. David Crane/Staff Photographer |
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