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Ramirez, Blake power Dodgers past Phillies

Aug 12, 2008 - 6:19 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The acquisitions of Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake are paying off for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Ramirez had two RBI and Blake homered as the Dodgers claimed an 8-6 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night.

Ramirez, who was acquired from the Boston Red Sox in a three-team trade on July 31, is batting .475 with four home runs and 13 RBI in 10 games with the Dodgers.

"(Ramirez) has done more than we have expected so far," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "Everyone knows what he is capable of and right now he is helping us win games and come up with big hits."

Blake also has helped the Dodgers since being acquired from the Cleveland Indians on July 26, stroking his third home run with the team during a six-run third inning.

"We added new guys to the team and it takes a little for us to get comfortable with one another but I can sense we are getting to where we want to be," Blake said.

Matt Kemp singled and stole second with one out in the third before Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick (10-6) walked Andre Ethier and hit Jeff Kent to load the bases.

Ramirez plated two with a double to center field and James Loney followed with a two-run single. Loney was thrown out at home on a base hit by Russell Martin before Blake capped the inning with his 15th home run of the season - a two-run blast to center - to give the Dodgers a 6-0 lead.

"I struggled with my command and control from the beginning and just never got into a comfortable rhythm," Kendrick said. "That lineup is a lot tougher to face with Manny in it."

Ryan Howard got the Phillies on the board with an RBI groundout in the fourth, but Los Angeles got the run back as Kent plated Kemp with a single in the bottom of the frame.

Ramirez followed with a walk, bouncing Kendrick from the game after he allowed seven runs, nine hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings.

Howard added another RBI groundout in the sixth off Dodgers starter Derek Lowe (9-10), who surrendered three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking one to snap a two-game personal losing streak.

"They have a tough lineup so I just wanted to go out and minimize damage," Lowe said. "I felt like I did a good job after not pitching my best."

The Phillies struck for a pair of runs in the seventh, but Loney added his third RBI of the game in the eighth to give the Dodgers an 8-4 advantage.

Chase Utley plated two runs with a bases-loaded single in the ninth, but Jonathan Broxton got Howard to ground out to second to earn his eighth save.

"It was good to see that we had a chance to pull closer or even tie the game up in the last inning, but we just came up on the short end tonight," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.