| Joe Gutierrez. 3rd May, 2006 - 4:45 am
 Yet again the Dodgers started a game off strong, only to blow it the second straight night to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Odalis Perez couldn’t have hoped for a heftier six-run lead than the one his team supplied for him, until it all fell apart in the fifth. It would eventually lead to an Arizona comeback, and a 10-8 victory over the Dodgers.
The lineup was shuffled a bit, with CF Kenny Lofton batting lead-off for the slumping SS Rafael Furcal who would bat right behind him. 2B Jeff Kent moved down one into the fifth spot, right in front of the newest Dodger Andre Ethier. If you can’t remember, Ethier was acquired in the Milton Bradley with the Oakland A’s. Ricky Ledee was sent to the DL with a strained groin to allow room for Ethier. The young LF was able to punch his first hit of his career on a double to left field.
1B Nomar Garciaparra’s hitting improved again as he tripled to deep center to score Furcal. Drew was able to get an infield single to score Garciaparra for a two-run lead. LA continued the next inning right where they left off in the first, when C Dioner Navarro singled to score 3B Oscar Robles, who started in place of Bill Mueller due to a rest day. The lead-off man Lofton delivered another clutch hit, smacking a hit past the diving CF Eric Byrnes, creating an automatic triple for the veteran. This would knock in two Dodgers that included Perez, dangerously sliding head first into home.
Furcal’s double in the fourth finally woke up his silent bat, which would score Lofton for a six-run lead to back Perez. The fifth inning brought a major blow to Perez as seven D-Backs would score to give them a one-run lead. This was an absolute embarrassing inning for the left-hander Perez, as he was charged with all seven earned runs, including a homer by ex-Dodger RF Shawn Green, and the inning capped off with a grand slam from 3B Chad Tracy.
On a good note, Drew hammered two home runs, but it proved to not be enough for Los Angeles.
Final Score: Dodgers 8, Diamondbacks 10
Coming Up
The Dodgers will now head back home for a two game series with the San Diego Padres. Jae Seo goes against Chris Young, whom the Dodgers beat in last Friday’s game with a shutout |
