Jul 10, 2008 11:22 pm US/Pacific
Dodgers Get Handled By Hanley
Hanley Ramirez has hurt a lot of teams during his career, and he almost single-handedly knocked the dodgers out of their first-place tie Thursday.
Ramirez had five hits including a solo home run with two outs in the top of the 11th to lead the Florida Marlins over the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4 on Thursday night. It was ramirez' first five-hit game of his career.
Ramirez, the starting shortstop for the NL in next Tuesday's All-Star game, was 5-for-6 and raised his average to .317. The Marlins' leadoff hitter singled his first three times up and doubled in his next at-bat. His 23rd homer of the season came off Brian Falkenborg (1-2).
All five hits by Ramirez came with no one in scoring position. He is batting .334 under those circumstances, but only .219 with runners in scoring position.
Joe Nelson (2-0) pitched two hitless innings for the win and Kevin Gregg got three outs for his 18th save in 24 attempts.
Marlins right-hander Josh Johnson threw 88 pitches over five innings in his first appearance since July 4, 2007, allowing three runs, three hits and no walks while striking out six.
The 24-year-old right-hander was 0-3 in his four starts last season, pitching a combined total of just 15 2-3 innings and allowing 13 earned runs before undergoing Tommy John surgery on Aug. 3. He began the 2007 campaign on the disabled list, missing almost three months because of nerve irritation in his arm.
John Baker hit his first major league home run for the Marlins, who broke a franchise mark by homering in their 12th consecutive game. They had a pair of 11-game streaks last season after the All-Star break. Florida has hit 131 home runs altogether, after hitting a club-record 201 in 2007.
Dan Uggla made his return to the Florida lineup after missing 11 games with a left ankle strain and was 0-for-3 with two walks. The All-Star second baseman was leading the majors with 23 home runs on June 28 when he was injured trying to stretch a single into a double against Arizona.
Dodgers right-hander Chan Ho Park was charged with four runs -- three earned -- and nine hits over four innings. He is 1-2 with a 2.16 ERA in five starts after beginning the season in the bullpen, and is expected to remain in the rotation until Brad Penny recovers from shoulder problems that have sidelined the two-time All-Star since June 13.
Russell Martin greeted reliever Ryan Tucker with his 10th home run leading off the sixth, tying the score at 4-all. The Marlins had a chance to regain the lead in the seventh, but Mike Jacobs grounded into a force play with the bases loaded against Hong-Chih Kuo.
The Dodgers tied the score 3-all in the third with two-out RBI singles by Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Martin. Johnson had struck out five of his first seven batters with his first 27 pitches before No. 8 hitter Angel Berroa triggered the Dodgers' rally with a one-out single.
Johnson, who has six hits and four RBIs in 51 big league at-bats, regained the lead for the Marlins with a line single to right after Baker's two-out double.
During the Dodgers' three-game series with Atlanta, Hiroki Kuroda started out with seven perfect innings in the opener, teammate Chad Billingsley pitched no-hit ball through the first four in his start, and Derek Lowe followed with six perfect innings the next night. That stretch of early domination by the staff ended when Ramirez opened the game with an infield single that triggered a two-run first inning by the Marlins.
Ramirez advanced on Park's first balk since 2004 with Texas, and Jorge Cantu singled him home. Center fielder Kemp bobbled Cantu's hit, allowing him to take an extra base, and Josh Willingham followed with an RBI double over Kemp's head.
The Marlins added a run in the second when Baker parked a 1-2 pitch over the right field fence.
