The Los Angeles Dodgers find themselves down 2-0 in the best of seven series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies used big innings in the second and third innings where they scored for runs in each inning to blow open the game and go onto win by the score of 8-5.

Chad Billingsley struck out four of the first six batters he faced, but quickly ran into trouble after fanning Pat Burrell and Jayson Werth in the second. Greg Dobbs hit a soft single up the middle and scored when Carlos Ruiz hit a double to left-center. Myers lined the next pitch to right-center to drive in Ruiz and give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. Jimmy Rollins bounced a single up the middle and Myers chugged toward third. Matt Kemp misplayed the ball in center field or he could’ve thrown Myers out to end the inning. Rollins hustled into second on the play. Shane Victorino followed with a two-run single to left-center to make it 4-1.

Billingsley also was charged with the four runs in the third inning when he gave up a two-run rbi single to Myers and and left runners on base for Chan Ho Park who entered the game in relief. Park then gave up a two-run triple to Victorino for the final two Phillies runs.

Manny Ramirez led the offense once again as he went 1-4. His one hit however was a three-run home run that got the team back in the game in the fourth inning. After the home run, the score was 8-5 but the Dodgers were unable to score over the final six innings to draw closer. James Loney and Blake DeWitt each had a rbi as well for the Dodgers.

It is time to go back to the drawing board if you ask me. The team is down 0-2 as they head back to Los Angeles for the next two and hopefully three games of the series. Hiroki Kuroda will take the mound for the Dodgers against Jamey Moyer and the Phillies. Hopefully the offday on Saturday will do the team good and they will bounce back with a victory on Sunday.

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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 and Philadelphia Phillies are ready to kick the NLCS off on Thursday evening. Games one and two will be played in Philadelphia and then the next three games in Los Angeles. Games six and seven would then be played back in Philly if needed.

The Dodgers are coming off a three game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. They have all the momentum in the world and they are ready for the Phillies. The Dodgers will be sending Derrek Lowe to the mound in game one against the Phillies Cole Hamels.

The Dodgers right handed pitching staff will have to keep Chase Utley and Ryan Howard off the base paths if they want to win the series.

The offense will try to stay hot with Rafael Furcal leading things off and setting things up for Russell Martin and Manny Ramirez. Manny is just being Manny and that means hitting home runs and knocking in runs in the playoffs while racking up the victories.

Hopefully the Dodgers will get off to a fast start and get a win in Philly and then be setup to finish off the series in L.A. Let’s enjoy the game tomorrow and hope that the Dodgers jump all over Hamels! Go Dodgers!

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It a very suprising series so far, the Los Angeles Dodgers have taken the first two games in the NLDS against the Chicago Cubs. The Dodgers now only need one more win to advance to the NLCS and they have two chances to do it at home. The third game will be Saturday night and I expect to see the Dodgers sweep away the Cubbies.

The Dodgers took advantage of four cubs errors in the game on Thursday night as they came away with a 10-3 victory. Russell Martin made the Cubs pay in the second inning after they commited two errors. Martin cleared the bases with a three-run double which gave the Dodgers a 5-0 lead and they never looked back.

Manny Ramirez hit his second home run of the series as well in the game as the Dodgers clobbered the Cubs in pretty much every was shape and form.

Chad Billingsley was lights out as he pitched 6 1/3 innings while limiting the Cubs to only one run. Billingsley struck out seven while only walking one. Takashi Saito was charged with three hits and two runs in the ninth inning when the Cubs attempted to come back from the large deficit but they were unable to do so. Jonathan Broxton came into the game and finished off the Cubs rally by getting all three outs in the inning.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched atleast a share of the West division on Wednesday night as they beat the San Diego Padres 12-4. Now all the Dodgers have to do is win one more game or have the Arizona Diamondbacks lose one game and the Dodgers will be the 2008 National League West Champions!

Manny Ramirez hit a two-run home run while Nomar Garciaparra added a solo home run of his own against the Padres. Matt Kemp, James Loney, and Angel Berroa joined Ramirez and Garciaparra with two rbi’s each in the game. Not to be left out, Andre Ethier and Chin-lung Hu both had one rbi in the game as well.

The Dodgers offense kept pressure on the Padres pitchers all night long as they scored runs off of five different Padres hurlers. Great job by the Dodgers bats!

Clayton Kershaw was the starting pitcher for the Dodgers and he tossed 5 2/3 innings but was pulled after giving up six hits and three runs. Kershaw struck out seven and walked two while picking up the win to improve to 5-5 on the year. Chan Ho Park gave up one run in relief but then Joe Beimel, Cory Wade, and Scott Proctor finished off the Padres.

The Dodgers will be looking for the division crown on Thusday night when they take on the Padres once again. Dodgers Blog

The Los Angeles Dodgers had to play extra innings on Thursday afternoon but it was well worth it as they came away with a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Great win for the Dodgers who needed to pick up a win as the Diamondbacks were getting closer in the standings.

James Loney singled in Russell Martin for the winning run in the top of the 13th inning. Earlier in the game Blake DeWitt had a two-run single and Matt Kemp scored on a infield single by Andre Ethier. I would have liked to see more offense out of the Dodgers but at this point in the season you will take a win any way you can get one.

Scott Proctor ended up picking up the win while Jonathan Broxton picked up his 14th save of the season. Clayton Kershaw pitched good during his five innings of action as he only gave up two hits and one run. However he was pulled and then Takashi Saito and Wade each gave up a run in relief.

The Dodgers will now head back to the West Coast as they will begin a series against the Giants on Friday. This is a must win series for the Dodgers so they can stay ahead of the Diamondbacks in the standings.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers had no problems with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. The Dodgers whooped up on the Pirates by the score of 8-2. Scoring in five out of nine innings, they really put a lot of pressure on the young pirates team and they had no shot at coming back.

Hiroki Kuroda pitched seven innings to pick up the win and improve his record to 9-10. Takashi Saito and Brad Penny both tossed an inning of relief with Penny giving up two runs in the ninth inning on a Adam LaRoche home run.

James Loney went 2-4 and finished the game with three rbi to lead the team at the plate. Manny Ramirez had another good game as he went 3-4 and had two rbi. Blake DeWitt and Juan Pierre both finished up the scoring with one rbi each. Pierre actually hit his first home run of the season to account for his rbi.

The Dodgers are looking very strong and I don’t think they will have any problems winning the West division especially the way the dbacks have been playing.

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Manny Ramirez was awesome for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night against the San Diego Padres. Ramirez hit two two-run home runs that blew the game open in the late innings as the Dodgers went on to beat the Padres 7-2 as the two teams finished up their three game series. The Dodgers took two out of the three games and extended their divisional lead to 3.5 games over the Arizona Diamondbacks. I’d say it has been a very good couple of weeks for the Dodgers!

Ramirez finished the game with a team high four rbi. Russell Martin, James Loney, and starting pitcher Derek Lowe all contributed with one rbi each as well. It was a nice balanced offense for the Dodgers on Wednesday night as there were other players that helped out manny.

Lowe received the win after tossing 5 1/3 innings. Lowe would have pitched longer in the game except he was taken out due to an undisclosed injury to his right leg. Hopefully it isn’t too bad as it would be a big blow to lose Lowe for any amount of time.

Let’s hope the Dodgers can extend their lead this weekend as they play the Colorado Rockies in a three game weekend series.

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Blah, what a bad game for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night. They were shut out by the San Diego Padres 4-0. The only good thing to come out of the game was that the Arizona Diamondbacks also lost so the Dodgers are still up 1.5 games in the division.

Greg Maddux was the losing pitcher for the Dodgers as he gave up all four runs in six innings of action. Maddux allowed seven hits, walked two, and struck out four while dropping his season record to 7-12. Scott Elbert, Scott Proctor, and Joe Beimel all did a great job out of the bullpen but the offense was never able to get anything going to come back in the game.

Just a terrible showing for the offense as they were unable to push across any runs against Cha Seung Baek and two Padres relief pitchers. They only had four hits in the entire game combined so they offense just needs to forget about this game and come back out on Tuesday night and swing the bats better.

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What a big win for the Los Angeles Dodgers as they beat the San Diego Padres 6-4 on Wednesday night. The victory finished up a huge sweep for the Dodgers over the Padres and they are now 1.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers and Diamondbacks will play in a big three game series starting Friday night as well.

Hiroki Kuroda earned the victory on Wednesday night even though he only lasted 5 1/3 innings. Kuroda allowed ten hits and four runs in the game. The Dodgers bullpen of Scott Proctor, Scott Elbert, C. Wade, and Jonathan Broxton all did a great job as they did not allow the Padres to score. Broxton pitched the ninth inning and recorded his 12th save of the season.

Casey Blake led the Dodgers at the plate with two rbi as he had a rbi single and a solo home run in the game. Blake DeWitt and Angel Berroa hit back to back home runs in the fourth inning as well. Russell Martin didn’t want to be left out as he finished the game with one rbi as well.

This weekend will be a huge weekend of baseball for the Dodgers. Hopefully they can pick up a couple of games in the standings against the Diamondbacks!

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