Jul 7, 2008 9:49 pm US/Pacific
Kuroda Pitches Dodgers Into First Place
Kuroda's One-Hit Gem Moves Dodgers Into First Place Tie
LOS ANGELES (AP) ―
Hiroki Kuroda took a perfect game into the eighth inning, but settled for a one-hitter, leading Los Angeles to a 3-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night.
The win moved the Dodgers in a tie for first in the NL West with idle Arizona.
Kuroda (5-6) retired the first 21 batters he faced before Mark Teixeira hammered a double into the right field corner leading off the eighth. Kuroda stranded him there and Teixeira would be the only Atlanta baserunner.
The Braves flew across the country after waiting through a 1-hour, 50-minute rain delay in a 7-6, 17-inning victory over Houston on Sunday in the longest game ever at Turner Field.
Kuroda was attempting to become the first Dodger to throw a no-hitter since Japanese countryman Hideo Nomo on Sept. 17, 1996, 9-0 at Colorado. Kuroda, 33, signed with the Dodgers in December as a free agent after 11 seasons with Hiroshima of the Japanese Central League.
He threw 91 pitches and struck out six in a game in earning a complete game shutout that lasted just 2 hours and 3 minutes.
The closest the Braves came to a baserunner before Teixeira's hit was in the seventh, when Gregor Blanco dropped a bunt to the left of the plate on Kuroda's first pitch of the inning. Rookie third baseman Blake DeWitt made a spectacular barehanded pickup and threw him out by a step.
Kuroda was sidelined 18 days because of a sore shoulder. He rejoined the rotation on July 2 at Houston and held the Astros to five hits over seven innings in a 4-1 victory. Monday's complete game was the second in 15 starts for Kuroda, who beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 with a four-hitter and had a career-high 11 strikeouts on June 6 at Dodger Stadium.
Jose Campillo (3-4) took a one-hitter into the fifth for the Braves before the Dodgers got on the scoreboard. The right-hander walked James Loney to open the inning, and Nomar Garciaparra drove a 1-2 pitch into the bullpen in left one out later for his second homer of the season.
Kuroda who had bunted three pitches foul with a runner at first in the third inning, sacrificed DeWitt to second after he singled in the fifth. Matt Kemp drove in DeWitt with a single. Kemp is 8-for-29 with six walks since manager Joe Torre switched him to the leadoff spot seven games ago.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
