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Kuroda sharp as Dodgers crush Phillies

Oct 13, 2008 - 5:37 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Dodgers returned home and found their fight.

Hiroki Kuroda pitched six-plus strong innings and Rafael Furcal homered and scored a pair of runs as the Dodgers climbed back into the National League Championship Series with a 7-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game Three on Sunday.

Blake DeWitt highlighted a five-run opening frame with a three-run triple and Manny Ramirez scored a pair of runs for the Dodgers, who now trail two games to one in the best-of-seven series.

Including the regular season, the home team has won each of the 11 meetings between the two clubs.

"Well, location probably helps," Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said. "A little more friendly here for our ball club. And we pitched."

Clearly comfortable at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles came out with its bats blazing and did not back down when one of its team leaders, Russell Martin, was hit by a pitch.

Kuroda (1-0) allowed an RBI single to Pedro Feliz in the second before retiring the next 13 batters. The Japanese righthander allowed three hits in the seventh before being replaced by Cory Wade.

"I didn't think I pitched that bad early in the game," Kuroda said through an interpreter. "But the big support was our offense. I had big run support early in the game, so that helped me get into my rhythm."

Kuroda, who tossed 6 1/3 scoreless frames in his first playoff start in the NL Division Series, was charged with two runs and five hits while walking one and striking out three.

The Dodgers exploded in the first off lefthander Jamie Moyer (0-1), getting singles from Furcal and Andre Ethier before Ramirez plated the first run with an RBI single. Moyer then hit Martin with a pitch and struck out Nomar Garciaparra before Casey Blake made it 2-0 in favor of Los Angeles with a single to right.

Matt Kemp struck out but DeWitt followed with his triple to cap the five-run frame. It was DeWitt's first hit in six at-bats in the NLCS.

Moyer allowed a leadoff home run to Furcal in the second and got Ethier to fly out before being removed. The 45-year-old Moyer, who did not suffer a loss in any of his last 10 regular season starts, has lost both of his starts in the postseason, combining to allow eight runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

"He had a tough time tonight," Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel said of Moyer. "They came out swinging on him. They were not taking very many pitches and they hit some balls hard, and it also seemed like everything they hit went through for a hit."

Tempers flared in the third when Kuroda sent a fastball above the head of Shane Victorino. The Phillies' No. 2 hitter pointed at the mound, gesturing to Kuroda to throw at his ribs, not his head. After Victorino grounded out to end the frame, the benches cleared, leading to some light pushing and shoving.

"The only thing I said was not to throw at my head," Victorino said. "That's all I ask. Nothing more than that and let's leave it at that."

One of the players doing the most yelling was Ramirez, who had a pitch thrown behind him by Brett Myers in Game Two. Ramirez had to be restrained by teammates and coaches on Sunday.

"Manny got kind of riled up and I had to hold him back a bit," Martin said. "We definitely need him on the field and not getting suspended. He's pretty strong, I definitely needed some help."

Kuroda's throw appeared to be in retaliation of Martin getting hit by Moyer in the first.

Garciaparra added an RBI single in the fourth and finished his first start of the series 2-for-3.

Pat Burrell got a run back for the Phillies in the seventh, plating Chase Utley with a single to center.

Wade allowed one hit and struck out two in two innings before yielding to closer Jonathan Broxton, who surrendered a hit in a scoreless ninth.