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Ramirez blasts pair as Dodgers drop Giants

Sep 21, 2008 - 7:07 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Manny Ramirez hit two home runs and drove in five runs as the Los Angeles Dodgers downed the San Francisco Giants, 10-7, on Saturday.

The blasts were Ramirez's 15th and 16th in 47 games since coming over from the Boston Red Sox in a July trade deadline deal. Ramirez has three of his four multi-home run games this season for Los Angeles He has 49 RBI for the Dodgers.

Reliever Jack Taschner faced three Dodgers batters in the seventh, walking them all, as Los Angeles broke a 5-5 tie. Taschner walked Nomar Garciaparra to load the bases and then issued free passes to Angel Berroa and Delwyn Young to give the Dodgers a 7-5 lead.

"Just didn't have great command of my stuff tonight," Taschner said. "You can't put guys on base against a tough lineup like the Dodgers."

The victory allowed the Dodgers (81-74) to maintain a 3 1/2-game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks (77-77) with a week left in the season. Arizona beat Colorado earlier in the day.

"We played a good game tonight," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "Can't worry about what Arizona is doing and just have to try to win one game at a time right now."

The Dodgers had scored five runs in the third inning to take a 5-2 lead.

"We know we can put runs on the board in a hurry," Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp said. "That was a big inning for us early in the game. We held on for a big win, and just have to come out tomorrow and play hard."

Ramirez hit a three-run homer and Kemp added a two-run shot in the inning.

"Manny is a hitter than can carry a team," Kemp said of Ramirez. "He's been so important to our offense since he's been here."

The Giants bounced back with a three-run rally in the fifth to tie the game. The runs scored on a bases-loaded walk to Eugenio Velez and a wild pitch from Joe Beimel.

"We are just trying to go out and play our best against tough teams down the stretch," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Had our chances to win the game tonight, but just couldn't get it done."

The game featured 15 walks, 11 by Giants pitchers.