Two months into the six-month marathon that is a major
league baseball season, the Los Angeles Dodgers find themselves 6.5 games
behind rival San Francisco for the National League West lead.
The Dodgers picked up a game on the Giants yesterday,
pounding out a 12-2 win over Pittsburgh while the Giants dropped a 2-0 decision
to the Cardinals. At 36-20, the Giants have the best record in baseball. With
the win, the Dodgers snapped a three-game losing streak.
Hanley Ramirez was the catalyst yesterday, going 4-for-4 with
two dingers and five RBI. Ramirez raised his batting average to .265 and the
Dodgers can only hope he is warming up for the summer.
Adrian Gonzalez went 3-for-4 and Matt Kemp and Justin Turner
each had a pair of hits and RBI as the Dodgers gave Hyun-Jin Ryu (6-2) all the
support he needed. After taking a perfect game into the eighth inning in his
last start, Ryu was not sharp, giving up 10 hits and a pair of runs in six
innings of work.
Jamey Wright did mop up duties, holding the Bucs to one hit
over three innings for the save.
Kemp started in left field for the injured Carl Crawford as
Ethier has emerged as the better option in center. Kemp is still recovering
from ankle and shoulder injuries and has yet to regain full mobility on
defense.
Yasiel Puig was a quiet 1-for-4 with an infield hit but
remains the Dodgers’ leading hitter with a .344 average. Dee Gordon and Drew
Butera had triples during the Los Angeles hit fest.
The Dodgers will try to earn a split of the four-game series
today when they send Zack Grienke (8-1, 2.18 ERA) against Edinson Volquez (2-4,
4.30 ERA). In 20 starts at Dodger Stadium, Greinke is 13-2 with a 2.23 ERA. He
will be trying to become the first nine-game winner in the National League.
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