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Ramirez, Kershaw help Dodgers salvage series finale with Cardinals

Aug 7, 2008 - 9:54 PM By Thad Kemlage PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- Manny Ramirez continued to shine in Dodger blue.

Ramirez homered for the fourth time in five games and rookie Clayton Kershaw pitched seven innings Thursday afternoon, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 4-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

One week after being acquired from the Boston Red Sox, Ramirez gave Los Angeles a 3-0 lead with a two-run homer in the third inning off Cardinals ace Kyle Lohse (13-4). The slugging outfielder is batting .565 (13-for-23) with four homers and nine RBI in six games with the Dodgers.

"Since Manny has come on board, we certainly have a different feel in the clubhouse, in the dugout and out there on the field," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "You get the other team's attention."

Juan Pierre added his second triple of the season to plate the fourth run of the game for the Dodgers in the fourth inning.

"I tried in on Manny's hands and left it out over the middle, and I missed completely the wrong side of the plate with Pierre," Lohse said. "Those were two bad mistakes in key situations."

Jeff Kent added three hits and scored two runs for Los Angeles, which salvaged the finale of this three-game series.

Ramirez's blast provided more than enough support for Kershaw (2-3), who allowed only one run and three hits. The 20-year-old lefthander walked four and matched a season high with seven strikeouts in his longest outing since being promoted to the majors on May 25.

"I don't think (Kershaw) was any more impressive than what he did in the seventh inning through the middle of that lineup," Torre said.

Hong-Chih Kuo tossed a perfect eighth inning and Jonathan Broxton worked around a leadoff hit and a one-out walk to record his sixth save.

Kershaw, who had seven strikeouts against the Cardinals in his major league debut, saw his 16-inning scoreless streak end in the fifth inning when Cesar Izturis plated Aaron Miles with a single to draw St. Louis within 4-1.

"I think I need to be aggressive," Kershaw said. "I'm not going to pull back on anything so I'd rather make mistakes like that than making them the other way."

The Cardinals lineup was quieted after scoring 15 runs on 32 hits in the first two games of this series.

"(Kershaw) has got a real good arm," Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said. "He's a young guy and he's only going to get better and better."

Lohse lost for the second time in his last three outings, giving up four runs and seven hits in seven innings. The righthander won nine straight decision before dropping two of his last three.