The Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to terms with Casey Blake and Mark Loretta on Tuesday. Blake has agreed to a three-year deal worth slightly more than $17.1 million while Loretta has agreed on a one-year, $1.25 million deal.

Blake turned down a two year deal from the Minnesota Twins that would have been worth $14 million. He feels that the Dodgers have a better chance to make it to the World Series and elected to come back to the Dodgers.

The Dodgers are still hoping to re-sign Rafael Furcal but they will have to beat other teams on the market for his services.

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It was a tough loss for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night as they dropped game four of the NLCS by the score of 7-5. Heading into the eighth inning, the Dodgers had a 5-3 lead and things looked like they would be evening up the series with the Philadelphia Phillies at two games each. However, the Phillies had other ideas as they hit two two-run home runs in the inning to take the lead and go on and win the game by the score of 7-5.

Cory Wade and Jonathan Broxton each gave up a home run in the eighth inning as they pretty much blew the game for the team. Wade ended up getting the loss in the game.

Starting pitcher Derrek Lowe pitched ok but wasn’t as good as he usually is. Lowe tossed five innings and gave up six hits and two runs while striking out four batters. He allowed two first inning runs and then settled down after that.

Clayton Kershaw and Hong-Chih Kuo were both charged with giving up a run as well. Kershaw’s run actally came on a Chan Ho Park wild pitch in the sixth inning.

Four different Dodgers had one rbi each for the offense. Manny Ramirez, Casey Blake, Russell Martin, and James Loney each provided an rbi. The offense did enough in the game to pull out the win, the bullpen just didn’t do their job to secure the victory.

The two teams will be off on Tuesday and then pick things back up on Wednesday for game five of the series. This is a must win for the Dodgers as they have to win to send the series back to Philly. It will be tough as they will be going against Cole Hamels while they will counter with Chad Billingsley.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers picked up a much needed win on Sunday evening as they took game three in the NLCS by the score of 7-2. The Dodgers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after the first inning on three-run triple by Blake DeWitt and rbi singles from Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake.

They weren’t done after the first inning however. Rafael Furcal jumped all over a Jamie Moyer pitch for a solo home run in the second inning which put the Dodgers up 7-1. Hiroki Kuroda gave up a rbi single to the Phillies in the top half of the inning before the Furcal home run.

Nomar Garciaparra added the seventh and final run for the home team in the fifth inning when he singled in Ramirez. Nice to see Nomar getting in on the action during the playoffs.

The main man of the night was Kuroda in my opinion. He pitched six strong innings and kept the Phillies off balance. He only allowed two runs which both came on singles and he struck out three while only giving up five hits. Cory Wade pitched the seventh and eighth innings before he turned things over to Jonathan Broxton for the ninth.

Derek Lowe will now take the mound on Monday night as the Dodgers look to tie the series up at two games each. It won’t be easy however as the Phillies will be sending Joe Blanton to the mound.

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Two bad pitches and two home runs for the Philadelphia Phillies as they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Thursday night as the two teams opened up the NLCS in Philly. Dodgers starting pitcher Derrek Lowe gave up home runs to Chase Utley and Pat Burrell in the sixth inning to put the Phillies up 1-0 in the best of seven series.

Lowe didn’t pitch that bad at all but the two home runs really hurt the teams chances. Chan Ho Park, Greg Maddux, and Hong-Chih Kuo all pitched in relief of Lowe to hold the Phillies to three runs but the offense was unable to score another run to tie the game up.

Speaking of the offense, they struggled for the most part against lefty Cole Hamels. Hamels struck out eight Dodgers and limited them to six hits through seven innings. Manny Ramirez stayed hot as he had a rbi double in the first inning to get the team on the board. The Dodgers next run would come in the fifth inning when Casey Blake scored Matt Kemp on a rbi sac fly. That would be all the scoring for the Dodgers however.

The team will look to bounce back in an afternoon game on Friday. Chad Billingsley will face off against the Phillies and their starting pitcher Brett Myers. If the team can pick up a win on Friday, I like their chances as the two teams head back to L.A. for the next three games.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers hit three home runs on Wednesday night but they still lost to the Washington Nationals. The Nationals were able to hold off the Dodgers for the 5-4 victory. Tough loss for the Dodgers because the Diamondacks also lost and they could have picked up a full game in the standings.

Greg Maddux got the start for the Dodger but he only lasted 5 1/3 innings and allowed eight hits and four runs. Maddux needed to throw the ball a little better then he did for the Dodgers to get the victory. Chan Ho Park sucked it up once again as he gave up another run in relief.

It was really too bad that the Dodgers hit three home runs but only scored three runs on them as they were all solo shots. James Loney, Casey Blake, and Andre Ethier all went deep in the game. Blake also added on a rbi single in the eighth inning.

The Dodgers will need to win on Thursday to avoid the embarassing sweep by the Nationals.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers finished off the Philadelphia Phillies with a 3-1 victory on Thursday night. With the win, the Dodgers swept the Phillies in the four game series. The Dodgers are playing very good baseball right now and are keeping pace with the Arizona Diamondbacks. This race is going to end up coming down to the last week of the seawson I’m thinking.

Matt Kemp, Nomar Garciaparra, and Casey Blake all had a rbi each for the Dodgers on Thursday night. Kemp hit a solo home run, Garciaparra a rbi groundout, and Blake a rbi single. It wasn’t much offense but it was enough to get the job done.

Hiroki Kuroda was awesome as he pitched seven innings and only gave up two hits and one run. Kurda picked up the win and is now 7-8 on the year. Hong-Chih Kuo pitched the final two innings of the game and notched his first save of the season. God job by Kuroda and Kuo!

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