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Rolen sparks Reds' rally in 8-5 win over Dodgers

Apr 23, 2010 - 3:53 AM CINCINNATI(AP) -- Mike Leake was pretty laid-back for a guy who had just earned his first professional win.

The Cincinnati rookie lasted seven innings and benefited from a go-ahead, two-run double by Scott Rolen late in the Reds' 8-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night.

Drafted eighth overall out of Arizona State last year, Leake was making his third pro start - all in the major leagues this season. He became the first Cincinnati starter to win in 2010, but his postgame demeanor suggested somebody waiting for a bus.

"Not a lot gets to me," said the 22-year-old pitcher, barely old enough to drink the beer his teammates showered him with in celebration. "I'm excited. I just don't show it too much. It feels good, not necessarily for my first one, but for the starters and the team."

Reds manager Dusty Baker was happy to see a starter last that long after his first two in the series couldn't get through the sixth.

"Leake gave us everything you can ask for, and we got some big runs late in the game," Baker said.

Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer in the sixth for the Reds, who came from behind twice for their seventh victory of the year.

Dodgers left fielder Manny Ramirez left in the sixth after straining his right calf while running out a single. Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said the slugger would be out at least two days and possibly the entire weekend series at Washington.

Andre Ethier and pinch-hitter Garret Anderson each had a two-run homer for Los Angeles.

The Dodgers were leading 5-4 when Rolen smacked a two-run double off the left-center wall with two outs in the seventh. Drew Stubbs and Ryan Hanigan added run-scoring singles as the Reds sent nine batters to the plate against Los Angeles relievers Hong-Chih Kuo (0-1) and Ronald Belisario.

"Four runs with any outs is good," Rolen said. "I don't want to get too theoretical about this, but it probably means we're swinging at strikes and being aggressive in the zone."

Leake (1-0) allowed eight hits and five runs with one walk and five strikeouts. Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his sixth save in seven opportunities.

Dodgers starter Vicente Padilla gave up eight hits and four runs - three earned. He didn't walk anybody and finished with eight strikeouts, giving him 1,000 in his career. The right-hander, making his first bid for career win No. 100, mixed 96 mph fastballs with changeups registering as low as 53 mph on the Great American Ball Park radar gun, including one in the sixth inning that Bruce hit into the visitors' bullpen for his third home run of the season, giving the Reds a brief 4-3 lead.

"How many home runs have you seen hit on that pitch?" Padilla said. "I had been throwing that pitch throughout the game and had success with it."

Matt Kemp singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games and Ethier followed with his fifth home run of the season and second in two nights.

Chris Dickerson led off the bottom half with an infield single, moved to third on Orlando Cabrera's chopper over the head of third baseman Casey Blake and scored on Joey Votto's sacrifice fly down the left-field line that Ramirez tracked down with a lunging catch after a long run.

The Dodgers got that run back in the fifth on Blake DeWitt's leadoff single and a two-out RBI single by Rafael Furcal, who drove in four runs in the Dodgers' 14-6 win on Wednesday.

After the Reds took their 4-3 lead, Anderson got it back for Los Angeles by lining a two-run drive into the right-field seats in the seventh. The homer was his first since last Sept. 21 for Atlanta at New York.

NOTES: Stubbs batted somewhere other than leadoff for the first time in 49 career starts. Stubbs, who went into the game hitless in his last 19 at-bats, flied out in the first before singling in the fifth while batting seventh. ... DeWitt singled in the fifth to extend his hitting streak to a career-high six games. He had been stopped at five three times. ... Before the game, the Dodgers placed RHP Jeff Weaver on the 15-day disabled list with back spasms and activated Kuo. ... Los Angeles also announced that RHP Russ Ortiz had chosen to become a free agent after being designated for assignment on Sunday. ... The Reds optioned RHP Logan Ondrusek to Triple-A Louisville and recalled RHP Carlos Fisher.