| Joe Gutierrez. 9th April, 2006 - 10:35 pm
 Abreu's Walk-Off Stuns Dodgers
The Dodgers and Phillies were rained out Saturday morning, so the makeup game was played today. Derek Lowe took the mound in game one, and was out to bounce back from a horrendous Opening Day start.
The first inning saw the Dodgers attack once again with quick runs when RF J.D. Drew tripled to right field scoring SS Rafael Furcal, who reached base earlier. 3B Bill Mueller was the last hitter to bring a run in as he was safe on SS Jimmy Rollins’ error, which scored Drew.
Lowe cruised through the first couple innings. Then in the top of the second, C Dioner Navarro smacked a solo homer to right field on a full count, giving Lowe a three run lead. The bottom of the third would end the pitcher’s scoreless game as Rollins scored on 2B Chase Utley’s fielder’s choice. LF Pat Burrell then singled to center scoring CF Aaron Rowand, shrinking Los Angeles’ lead to just one.
We leap into the seventh inning now where C Mike Lieberthal doubled over the head of Mueller, ending Lowe’s day. In an interesting move, Grady Little went with RP Yhency Brazoban to face the switch hitting Shane Victorino, rather than go with baseball’s concept of lefty versus lefty. Brazoban would be then be yanked because of location issues, but not before allowing a run to tie the game at three. LP Hung-Chih Kuo was brought in and made RF Bobby Abreu pop out, ending the seventh with only giving up one run.
The bottom of the ninth brought Abreu to the plate with Alex Gonzalez and Rollins on base. LP Tim Hamulack delivered a fast ball away to Abreu who slugged the pitch opposite field into the stands, handing the Phillies their first win of the year.
Final Score: Dodgers 3, Phillies 6
Penny Cruises as LA Wins
Brad Penny led the Dodgers into the final game of a three game series against the Phillies with another stellar performance. Coming off his first win of the season last week against Atlanta, Penny took command today allowing one run, on four hits. The first inning was his shakiest as Bobby Abreu singled to center scoring Jimmy Rollins, giving Philadelphia the early 1-0 lead.
Los Angeles answered back in the second on the hot-hitting catcher Sandy Alomar Jr.’s double to left field, easily scoring James Loney. The fourth inning brought Penny to the plate with two runners on, and the ace drove one up the middle for a base hit, bringing in Loney yet again. The Dodgers now had a 2-1 lead, with Penny making sure it stayed that way his next few innings.
Moving to the eighth inning where LA would soon add three more runs to their lead. Ramon Martinez doubled in Bill Mueller and Alomar Jr., giving the Dodgers a four run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth. The Phils’ were able to put up their second run of the game in the same inning, cutting the lead to three on Abreu’s double to center.
Loney continued his hot hitting since joining the Dodgers as he would single to left, scoring Jason Repko. That would be all they needed as the Los Angeles Dodgers took two out of three from the Philadelphia Phillies.
Final Score: Dodgers 6, Phillies 2
Coming Up
Odalis Perez will attempt to shake off his last start as he goes up against Zach Duke and former Dodgers manager Jim Tracy
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