Final
Kemp homers twice as red-hot Dodgers pound Rockies
Apr 20, 2009 - 1:18 AM LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Offense hasn't been a problem so far for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Neither has pitching. In fact, the only thing that can sidetrack them at this point is overconfidence as they head out on a nine-game road trip.Matt Kemp hit a grand slam and a solo homer to help the defending NL West champions beat the Colorado Rockies 14-2 on Sunday for their eighth straight win.
Andre Ethier and Orlando Hudson each drove in three runs for the Dodgers, who have won their first six home games for the first time since the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers started out 8-0 at Ebbets Field in Jackie Robinson's rookie year.
"I felt pretty good about this club leaving spring training. I just felt we were going to score runs. But to get off to this kind of start is pretty good," manager Joe Torre said.
"Everybody's contributing. We're getting the blowout wins by getting quality at-bats, getting the opposing pitcher to get his pitch count up there quickly, and doing a lot of the little things right -- like getting two-out base hits. Two-out RBIs are huge, and I know they're backbreakers for the opponent."
The Dodgers are 29-9 at Chavez Ravine since last year's All-Star break, the best record in the majors during that stretch. They outscored their opponents 50-17 this homestand, recording 77 hits, 11 home runs and 31 walks while batting a collective .367.
"You're not going to go out and score 14 runs every game, but we definitely do have the firepower to put some runs on the board," third baseman Casey Blake said.
James McDonald managed to work out of trouble while throwing 4 1-3 scoreless innings for the Dodgers. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second, retiring rookie Dexter Fowler on a flyball to right field.
Torre hoped to get five innings out of McDonald in his second big league start, but had to pull the 24-year-old right-hander with a 4-0 lead after he walked two batters in the fifth.
"I wish I could have gone deeper into the game, but everything worked out fine," said McDonald, the Dodgers minor league pitcher of the year the past two seasons. "I just have to put guys away after getting 0-2 against them instead of messing around."
Scott Elbert (1-0), recalled from Double-A Chattanooga on Saturday when Cory Wade went on the DL, was summoned to face Todd Helton and retired him on a foul pop. Garrett Atkins followed with a drive that Kemp hauled in with a leaping catch a few feet from the center-field fence.
Elbert contributed an RBI double during a seven-run fifth that gave the Dodgers an 11-0 cushion. Ubaldo Jimenez (1-2) was removed with one out and the bases loaded before Kemp greeted struggling Matt Belisle with his second career grand slam and first since April 26, 2008 -- also against the Rockies during a 10-run first inning against Mark Redman at Dodger Stadium.
"That first home run he hit, that was just pure strength. He didn't really connect fully with it, but it just carried," teammate Russell Martin said. "He's got more power than anybody on the team -- and I don't know if there's any guys in the league that have more power than he does."
Hudson and Ethier capped the Dodgers' most productive inning of the season with RBI singles.
"We've got to get better out on the mound," catcher Chris Iannetta said. "Our starters have to go deeper into the game, and our bullpen's got to come in and throws strikes. Days like this are going to happen. It's part of the game. You've got to take your beating and move on."
The Rockies' team ERA is at 5.74.
"We're not doing the job we need to do out there. We're not even close. And that needs to be stepped up," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Whether they're overanalyzing, overthinking, overtrying -- whatever they're doing, they should just stop it. Throw low strikes, get the first hitter of the inning out, and we'll go from there."
Elbert allowed two runs and three hits in 2 2-3 innings, including seventh-inning homers by Brad Hawpe and Iannetta, whose second of the season snapped an 0-for-19 drought.
Jimenez (1-2) was charged with seven runs and seven hits. The right-hander was 4-0 with a 5.51 ERA in six previous career starts against the Dodgers, including a 10-1 victory last July 22, when he earned his first complete game in the majors with a four-hitter.
The Dodgers, who finished with 19 hits, grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI doubles by Hudson and Ethier. Jimenez escaped a bases-loaded jam later that inning when he slipped a called third strike past Kemp, who struck out a franchise-record 153 times last season.
Hudson made it 3-0 in the second with an RBI single, and Kemp led off the fourth with a double and scored on Rafael Furcal's double.
Kemp's three hits extended his season-opening hit streak to 13 games.
- NL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
COLORADO 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 8 0
LA DODGERS 2 1 0 1 7 0 2 1 x 14 19 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: COL - UBALDO JIMENEZ, MATT BELISLE (5TH), GLENDON RUSCH (5TH),
MANUEL CORPAS (7TH), HUSTON STREET (8TH) AND CHRIS IANNETTA
LOS - JAMES MCDONALD, SCOTT ELBERT (5TH),
Apr 19 7:16 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY MATT KEMP (3) TO CENTER WITH 0 OUT IN THE
8TH OFF HUSTON STREET.
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 2, LA DODGERS 14
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: B DEWITT (.200, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Rockies 2, Dodgers 14 Bot 8, 0 OutsApr 19 7:05 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JAMES LONEY SCORED JUAN CASTRO.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J LONEY ON FIRST, J PIERRE ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 2
LA DODGERS 13 BOTTOM, 7TH
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: R MARTIN (.250, 2-FOR-2, 2 BB)
Rockies 2, Dodgers 13 Bot 7, 0 OutsApr 19 6:58 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY ANDRE ETHIER SCORED RAFAEL FURCAL.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J PIERRE ON FIRST, J CASTRO ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 2
LA DODGERS 12 BOTTOM, 7TH
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: J LONEY (.277, 0-FOR-3, BB)
Rockies 2, Dodgers 12 Bot 7, 0 OutsApr 19 6:58 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY CHRIS IANNETTA (2) TO LEFT WITH 2 OUT IN
THE 6TH OFF SCOTT ELBERT.
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 2, LA DODGERS 11
DUE UP FOR COLORADO: J BAKER (.111, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Rockies 2, Dodgers 11 Top 6, 0 OutsApr 19 6:26 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY BRAD HAWPE (2) TO RIGHT WITH 0 OUT IN THE
6TH OFF SCOTT ELBERT.
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 1, LA DODGERS 11
DUE UP FOR COLORADO: T TULOWITZKI (.250, 1-FOR-2)
Rockies 1, Dodgers 11 Top 6, 0 OutsApr 19 6:23 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ANDRE ETHIER SCORED ORLANDO HUDSON.
SITUATION: 7 RUNS IN, A ETHIER ON FIRST, M RAMIREZ ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 0
LA DODGERS 11 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: J LONEY (.283, 0-FOR-2, BB)
Rockies 0, Dodgers 11 Bot 5, 0 OutsApr 19 6:17 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ORLANDO HUDSON SCORED SCOTT ELBERT.
SITUATION: 6 RUNS IN, O HUDSON ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 0
LA DODGERS 10 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: M RAMIREZ (.310, 1-FOR-3)
Rockies 0, Dodgers 10 Bot 5, 0 OutsApr 19 6:10 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY SCOTT ELBERT SCORED CASEY BLAKE.
SITUATION: 5 RUNS IN, S ELBERT ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 0
LA DODGERS 9 BOTTOM, 5TH
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: R FURCAL (.271, 1-FOR-2, BB, RBI)
Rockies 0, Dodgers 9 Bot 5, 0 OutsApr 19 6:08 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
GRAND SLAM BY MATT KEMP (2) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 1 OUT IN
THE 5TH OFF MATT BELISLE SCORED MANNY RAMIREZ, JAMES LONEY AND
RUSSELL MARTIN.
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 0, LA DODGERS 8
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: C BLAKE (.184, 0-FOR-1, HBP)
Rockies 0, Dodgers 8 Bot 5, 0 OutsApr 19 6:06 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY RAFAEL FURCAL SCORED MATT KEMP.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R FURCAL ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 0
LA DODGERS 4 BOTTOM, 4TH
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: O HUDSON (.380, 2-FOR-2, 2 RBI)
Rockies 0, Dodgers 4 Bot 4, 0 OutsApr 19 5:35 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ORLANDO HUDSON SCORED CASEY BLAKE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, O HUDSON ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 0
LA DODGERS 3 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: M RAMIREZ (.300, 0-FOR-1)
Rockies 0, Dodgers 3 Bot 2, 0 OutsApr 19 4:59 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY ANDRE ETHIER SCORED ORLANDO HUDSON.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, A ETHIER ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 0
LA DODGERS 2 BOTTOM, 1ST
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: J LONEY (.295, 0 HR, 8 RBI)
Rockies 0, Dodgers 2 Bot 1, 0 OutsApr 19 4:31 PM - NL
AT LA DODGERS - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY ORLANDO HUDSON SCORED RAFAEL FURCAL.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, O HUDSON ON SECOND, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: COLORADO 0
LA DODGERS 1 BOTTOM, 1ST
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: M RAMIREZ (.308, 2 HR, 7 RBI)
Rockies 0, Dodgers 1 Bot 1, 0 OutsApr 19 4:26 PM
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