Monday, August 11, 2014

Correia turns in strong showing in first appearance

Kevin Correia, a journeyman pitcher acquired this week from the Minnesota Twins, turned in a stellar outing in his Dodger debut tonight, holding Atlanta to one run on four hits through six frames as Los Angeles posted a 6-2 win over the Braves and extended their lead in the NL West to five games.

Correia, who came to the Dodgers with a 5-13 record and an ERA at 4.79, had strong command of his pitches, walking only one and striking out five.

The Dodgers beat Julio Teheran (10-9) with a three-run sixth inning that featured a string of singles by Correia, Dee Gordon, Yasiel Puig, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford.

Los Angeles busted the game open with three more in the eighth sparked by a walk to Puig, a ground rule double by Matt Kemp, a single by Crawford and a throwing error by Atlanta shortstop Ramiro Pena.

Brian Wilson, Jamey Wright and Carlos Frias pitched in relief to hold the Braves at bay. Frias gave up two hits and a run in the ninth.

Correia, an All-Star with Pittsburgh in 2011, is expected to replace the injured Josh Beckett in the Dodger rotation. On Friday, the Dodgers acquired Roberto Hernandez from Philadelphia to shore up the pitching staff. Hernandez went six innings and held the Brewers to two runs on three hits and struck out five in his Los Angeles debut.

The Dodger starters now include Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Hyu-Jin Ryu, Dan Haren, Hernandez and Correia. Beckett is on the 15-day DL with a hip injury and his return is uncertain.

Haren (9-9, 4.57) takes the hill tomorrow against the Braves. Haren pitched a three-hitter over 7.1 innings to beat the Angels last week.


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