• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Ramirez homers as Dodgers pound Diamondbacks

Aug 4, 2008 - 2:05 AM By Jonathan Raber PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- In only his third game, Manny Ramirez is already making his presence felt both with his bat and his often criticized quirky personality.

Ramirez homered for the second straight day and drove in three runs to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 9-3 victory over the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.

Matt Kemp homered, drove in two runs and scored three times and Russell Martin had an RBI single for Los Angeles (56-55), which pounded out 16 hits and moved to within one game of Arizona (57-53) in the National League West.

It was the first four-hit game of the season for Ramirez, who now has eight hits in 13 at-bats during three games since joining the Dodgers via a three-team trade with Boston at the deadline.

The home runs have been a big boost for a Dodgers' lineup that ranks in the bottom five of the league in runs, home runs and slugging percentage.

"He's making our team better, that's for sure," Martin said. "Now that we have it (power), it's fun coming to the ballpark knowing that your team is better. That's what we feel like. We already knew that we were competing, but with the addition of this guy, it's unbelievable. I feel like we just won the lottery."

Martin also said Ramirez's quirky personality, which has been referred to as, "Manny being Manny," has been a positive influence on the clubhouse thus far.

"He's kinda brought a new life to our team, it seems like," he said. "Everybody on the bench is a little bit looser, having more fun. We just know that we're going to put runs on the board with him in the lineup."

That was never more evident than on Sunday, as Ramirez got the Dodgers on the board in the first inning with a single through the left side. Two batters later, James Loney connected for a run-scoring single to make it 2-0. After the Diamondbacks evened the score at 2-2 in the second, the Dodgers regained the lead for good in the bottom half of the frame.

Kemp and Martin both knocked in runs with singles, bringing Ramirez to the plate. He hit a double to right-center off Arizona starter Doug Davis (4-6), and Martin hustled around from first to slide under the catcher's tag at home for a 5-2 lead.

"He definitely adds to the offense, no doubt about that," Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. "He's just another guy we've got to deal with."

Stephen Drew cut the deficit to 5-3 with a solo home run in the fifth, before Ramirez responded belted a 1-2 fastball from Billy Buckner that traveled an estimated 436 feet into the left-field pavilion. Ramirez's second homer in as many days was his 512th of his career, tying him with Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Eddie Mathews for 20th on the all-time list.

"We're just going out there to have fun and play hard," said Ramirez, who received a curtain call.

Following Kemp's solo shot in the ninth, Ramirez added an infield single for good measure, before scoring on Pablo Ozuna's triple for the final margin. Corey Wade (2-1) allowed two hits in 1 2/3 innings to pick up the win.

"(Ramirez) has a lot of knowledge for the game," Kemp said. "He just knows how to play the game. He's driving in runs and getting us going."

The Dodgers' other new acquisition, Casey Blake, added a pair of hits and an RBI - giving him 12 hits in eight games since arriving from the Cleveland Indians.

Meanwhile, Davis was rocked for five runs on six hits in a season-low 1 1/3 innings.