Final
Dodgers eye second straight sweep
May 1, 2008 - 12:06 PM LA Dodgers (14-13) at Florida (15-12) 12:10 pm EDTMIAMI (Ticker) - Manager Joe Torre has spent the first month of the season tinkering with the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup in hopes of finding the fit he likes.
Entering May, he may be ready to settle on the batting order that has clobbered the Florida Marlins during the past few days.
The Los Angeles Dodgers seek their second straight sweep on Thursday when they close out their three-game set with the Marlins.
After using 24 different lineups over the team's first 25 games, Torre has seemingly settled on one that includes young outfielders Andre Ethier in left field and Matt Kemp in center field - over Juan Pierre - on a regular basis while batting them in the No. 2 and 3 spots, respectively.
That combination - along with leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal - has greatly contributed to the Dodgers scoring 20 runs over their past two games, including Wednesday's 13-1 rout of the Marlins. Los Angeles had 15 hits in the game, giving them 29 in the past two contests.
Furcal tied a career high with five hits while Kemp continued his torrid hitting pace in the victory. During the Dodgers' season-high five-game winning streak, the 23-year-old is batting .455 (10-for-22) with 10 RBI and five runs.
With its three-game weekend sweep of the Colorado Rockies plus wins in the first two games of this series, Los Angeles has already matched its longest win streak from last season.
Rookie Hiroki Kuroda (1-2, 3.82 ERA) will look to be the latest Los Angeles pitcher to benefit from the increased run support when he takes the mound.
He is coming off his worst outing as a major leaguer, allowing a season-high five runs and nine hits over six innings in Friday's 8-7, 13-inning win over Colorado.
Fellow rookie Burke Badenhop (0-2, 8.36) will oppose Kuroda in search of his first victory. The righthander has struggled mightily since joining the rotation on April 13, surrendering 13 runs and 19 hits in just 13 innings of work.
He wasn't any better in his last outing when he allowed six runs over five frames in a 7-4 defeat to Atlanta last Thursday.
- NL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
LA DODGERS 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 2 5 7 1
FLORIDA 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 5 3 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: LOS - HIROKI KURODA, SCOTT PROCTOR (8TH), JOE BEIMEL (8TH), TAKASHI
SAITO (9TH) AND RUSSELL MARTIN
FLA - BURKE BADENHOP, TAYLOR TANKERSLEY (7TH), RENYEL
PINTO (8TH
May 1 3:11 PM - NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY ROBERT ANDINO ALLOWED MATT KEMP TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, R MARTIN ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA DODGERS 5
FLORIDA 3 TOP, 9TH
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: A ETHIER (.312, 1-FOR-4, RBI)
Dodgers 5, Marlins 3 Top 9, 0 OutsMay 1 3:00 PM - NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY MATT KEMP SCORED RAFAEL FURCAL.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M KEMP ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA DODGERS 4
FLORIDA 3 TOP, 9TH
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: M SWEENEY (.100, 0-FOR-3, BB)
Dodgers 4, Marlins 3 Top 9, 0 OutsMay 1 2:48 PM - NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY CODY ROSS (1) TO LEFT WITH 0 OUT IN THE
5TH OFF HIROKI KURODA SCORED WES HELMS.
CURRENT SCORE: LA DODGERS 3, FLORIDA 3
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: M TREANOR (.233, 1-FOR-1)
Dodgers 3, Marlins 3 Bot 5, 0 OutsMay 1 1:31 PM - NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY JUAN PIERRE SCORED CHIN-LUNG HU AND RAFAEL
FURCAL.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J PIERRE ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA DODGERS 3
FLORIDA 1 TOP, 5TH
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: M KEMP (.311, 0-FOR-2)
Dodgers 3, Marlins 1 Top 5, 0 OutsMay 1 1:22 PM - NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY ANDRE ETHIER SCORED JUAN PIERRE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A ETHIER ON FIRST, M SWEENEY ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA DODGERS 1
FLORIDA 1 TOP, 4TH
DUE UP FOR LA DODGERS: B DEWITT (.275, 0-FOR-1)
Dodgers 1, Marlins 1 Top 4, 0 OutsMay 1 1:06 PM - NL
AT FLORIDA - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY HANLEY RAMIREZ SCORED MATT TREANOR.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, H RAMIREZ ON SECOND, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: LA DODGERS 0
FLORIDA 1 BOTTOM, 3RD
DUE UP FOR FLORIDA: D UGGLA (.252, 0-FOR-1)
Dodgers 0, Marlins 1 Bot 3, 0 OutsMay 1 12:51 PM
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