• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Offensive outburst lifts Dodgers over Phillies

Aug 23, 2007 - 4:04 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA Sports Ticker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - The injuries appear to have finally caught up with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Andre Ethier belted a two-run homer and had three RBI and Derek Lowe tossed seven effective innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Phillies, 15-3, at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday.

James Loney also drove in three runs and Jeff Kent and Matt Kemp each added two RBI to help Lowe win his second straight start after going 0-5 in his previous eight outings.

"Derek was on the top of his game for seven innings and it's good to see him back throwing the ball like he's throwing now," Los Angeles manager Grady Little said.

The victory kept the Dodgers (65-61) 2 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres (67-59) for the wild card berth in the National League. The Phillies (66-59) fell one game behind the Padres, who defeated the New York Mets, 7-5, on Wednesday.

"At this time of the year, you shouldn't have any problem getting up for a game," Ethier said. "We're trying to win and trying to get back to get into a race to make the playoffs."

Lowe (10-11) allowed three runs on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts and improved to 3-0 in five starts against the Phillies since joining the Dodgers.

"This park normally isn't pitcher-friendly," Lowe said. "The (15) runs definitely didn't hurt."

Philadelphia lefthander Cole Hamels, the scheduled starter, was placed on the 15-day disabled list prior to the game with a mild left elbow strain. That allowed the Dodgers to take advantage of Phillies righthander J.D. Durbin, who was moved up a day to pitch in Hamels' spot.

"You've got to take advantage no matter who it is (on the mound)," Ethier said. "In the past, we've let some guys off the hook that we shouldn't have. We got up for the big pitchers."

The Dodgers took an early 1-0 lead with an unearned run in the first inning. After Greg Dobbs booted a potential inning-ending grounder, Ethier made it 1-0 on an RBI double two batters later.

"I just got the opportunity with men on base and a chance to drive in runs," Ethier said. "Capitalized right there and that's what we needed to do to keep rolling along."

Los Angeles upped its margin to 3-0 in the fourth. Kent stroked a one-out double before Ethier drove Durbin's first pitch deep into the right-center field seats for his 10th home run of the season.

Dobbs got the Phillies on the board with an RBI groundout in the fifth.

Los Angeles added two more runs off Durbin in the sixth on Kent's RBI double and Loney's run-scoring single.

"We've faced (Durbin) before," Loney said. "He's around the plate. We've got a good-looking lineup out there pretty much every night. We know that we're capable of putting up a lot of runs."

Durbin (5-3) hurled six innings and allowed five runs - four earned - on six hits.

"Cole going down obviously is a big hit for us right now," Durbin said. "I've got to step into that role and if I'm going on four days rest, I can do it. It's just that I've got to execute better and prepare myself a little bit better."

The Dodgers broke the game open by batting around in the seventh inning and scoring five times off reliever Jose Mesa. Loney's two-run single highlighted the outburst.

Los Angeles scored 12 of its runs in the final four innings.

"Durbin did all right," Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. "They scored a lot of runs off our bullpen."

Rafael Furcal and Kemp each scored three runs for Los Angeles. Kemp finished with four hits.

Chris Coste accounted for the Phillies' other runs with a two-run home run in the seventh, his third long ball of the season.