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Kemp, Pierre help Dodgers to sixth straight win

May 1, 2008 - 8:41 PM By Christopher Stock PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MIAMI (Ticker) -- Matt Kemp hit a tie-breaking single in the top of the ninth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers swept a three-game series from the Florida Marlins with a 5-3 victory Thursday afternoon.

Juan Pierre had a pair of hits and two RBI for the Dodgers, who completed their second straight three-game series sweep. Los Angeles swept Colorado last weekend.

"You don't get many opportunities to sweep series," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "When you have a lot of confidence and you are playing well like we are, you want to keep winning."

With the score tied at 3-3, Kevin Gregg (3-2) walked Rafael Furcal to lead off the ninth. Pierre laid down a successful sacrifice before Kemp hit a soft liner to right field, scoring Furcal.

"He tried to sink the ball in and I tried to say short, inside-out the ball," Kemp said. "I have been working on a little bloop to go the other way and it worked."

Two batters later, Kemp came home to score when Gregg and second baseman Robert Andino committed throwing errors on a grounder hit by Russell Martin.

Joe Beimel (3-0) picked up the win, retiring just one batter in the eighth, and Takashi Saito pitched a perfect ninth to record his fourth save.

"Saito is Saito, his location has been right on the money," Torre said.

Dodgers rookie starter Hiroki Kuroda threw seven solid innings, allowing three runs and five hits. He struck out four and did not walk a batter, throwing 85 pitches - 58 for strikes.

"In the beginning I wasn't performing that well," Kuroda said through an interpreter. "But I kept pressing, and in the end I came through and I was able to perform well without a lot of pitches."

With the score tied at 1-1 in the fifth, Chin-lung Hu singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a successful sacrifice by Kuroda. Furcal drew a walk before Pierre lined a double to center field, giving the Dodgers a 3-1 lead.

The Marlins responded in the bottom half of the fifth when Cody Ross blasted a two-run homer off the left-field foul pole after Wes Helms singled. It was his first homer of the season.

"I wanted to hold the lead, but I allowed a home run," Kuroda said. "I wanted to keep the winning streak going and I kept being aggressive."

Marlins rookie starter Blake Badenhop threw six innings, allowing three runs and five hits. Badenhop struck out six and walked two in the longest outing of his young career.

"He pitched six innings and kept us in the ballgame," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

Hanley Ramirez hit an RBI double to center field in the third inning for the Marlins, extending his streak to 46 games of reaching base at Dolphin Stadium.