DODGERS 7, COLORADO 6: Power-ball numbers are winners for L.A

DODGERS 7, COLORADO 6: Power-ball numbers are winners for L.A.

Posted:   05/01/2012 11:38:44 PM PDT

DENVER - As usual, the Dodgers got power and production up the middle.

For once, center fielder Matt Kemp wasn't the one doing the heavy lifting.

Catcher A.J. Ellis homered and drove in three runs, shortstop Dee Gordon hit his first major-league home run and second baseman Mark Ellis had four singles and made the game-saving play in the ninth inning to preserve a 7-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.

Andre Ethier added a three-run home run in the first inning.

Their contributions helped Ted Lilly (3-0) pick up the win despite a shaky performance by the Dodgers bullpen. Lilly pitched six solid innings, allowing two earned runs on four hits, but he left after throwing just 79 pitches because of a stiff lat muscle.

"We just didn't want to push it too far," said Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, who watched his bullpen fritter away almost all of the 7-2 lead Lilly left his relievers.

Javy Guerra struck out Carlos Gonzalez with the potential tying run 90 feet away to end it.

"That was fun," Mattingly said. "That's the way it's supposed to be, right? CarGo with the game on the line?"

The Dodgers pounded out 11 hits off Rockies right-hander Jhoulys Chacin and then held on. The win capped a big day for the storied franchise, marking the end to the tumultuous Frank McCourt era.

The $2 billion sale of the team to Guggenheim Baseball Management, a group that includes former Lakers star Magic Johnson, was finalized Tuesday, just hours before the Dodgers improved to an NL-best 17-7.

"I think the fans of L.A. are pretty excited about the new ownership and what it's bringing. As long as L.A. is happy, I'm happy," Kemp said.

The Dodgers were even happier after this latest display of pinpoint pitching from Lilly and power at the plate that has propelled them to their best start since 1983. Even with a 7-0 lead after five innings, they weren't exactly comfortable at Coors Field, however.

"Every inning we'd come in and say we need more runs, we need more runs," Mark Ellis said. "Nothing against our pitchers. That's just the way this is. And then that wind starts blowing a little bit and you know we need to score some more runs. And we held on."

Thanks in large part to the second baseman's play that robbed Marco Scutaro of a tying single up the middle with one out in the ninth and Wilin Rosario on second base.

"Just good scouting, I guess," Todd Helton said.

That, and tough luck.

Mark Ellis was shading toward the bag while jockeying with Rosario before the pitch, and then the thick grass slowed the ball down enough for him to make the play to throw out Scutaro and keep Rosario at third.

After falling behind Gonzalez 2-0, Guerra threw a backdoor slider and two cutters to strike him out.

The dramatic ending was a fitting bookend for the Dodgers. Gordon led off the game with his first career homer, a second-deck shot to right field.

"He was talking all day how he was going to hit a home run," Mark Ellis recounted. "And then he goes out there and hits a home run. It wasn't a short one, either. It was a bomb, too. He called it."

Gordon was surprised that his double-play partner revealed that bit of banter.

"I kind of hinted to Mark," clarified Gordon, who was homerless in his first 311 career at-bats. "I can swing the bat. I've got power. I just try to get on base, hit steady line drives, but he gave me a pitch that I could hit."

How could a guy who's generously listed at 160 pounds and who had never hit a home run in the majors be so sure of his power?

"Because I know me. I know what kind of power I possess. I've lived with me for 24 years," Gordon replied. "So, I just try to do what I can to get on base and I happened to hit a home run."

Lilly downplayed the strained lat muscle that cut his outing short. He called the injury "very minor" and said he hoped it wouldn't force him to skip a side session or his next start.

BASEBALL: Lilly shines in Dodgers' win

Posted:   05/01/2012 11:13:10 PM PDT

DENVER - Ted Lilly threw six solid innings and the Dodgers got home runs from Dee Gordon, Andre Ethier and A.J. Ellis in a 7-6 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.

Lilly gave up four hits and two runs while the Dodgers pounded out 11 hits off Rockies right-hander Jhoulys Chacin and then held on despite a shaky bullpen performance.

The victory capped a big day for the storied franchise that marked the end to the tumultuous Frank McCourt era.

The $2.15 billion sale of the team to Guggenheim Baseball Management, a group that includes former Lakers star Magic Johnson, was finalized Tuesday, just hours before the Dodgers improved to an NL-best 17-7.

"I think the fans of L.A. are pretty excited about the new ownership and what it's bringing. As long as L.A. is happy, I'm happy," Dodgers slugger Matt Kemp said. "As long as we're winning, I'm happy."

The Dodgers were even happier after this latest display of pinpoint pitching and power at the plate that has propelled them to their best start since 1983.

Lilly (3-0) improved to 9-2 against the Rockies. He got all the run support he needed by the time the Dodgers had sent four batters to the plate in the first inning.

The only downer for Los Angeles was the bullpen that allowed four runs in two ugly innings before Javy Guerra shut the door in the ninth for his eighth save in 10 chances. He allowed a one-out single to pinch-hitter Wilin Rosario, who advanced on a passed ball and went to third on Marco Scutaro's groundout.

That brought up Carlos Gonzalez, who already had homered earlier in the evening. With first base open, the Dodgers decided to pitch to the Rockies' slugger, and Guerra fell behind 2-0 before throwing three consecutive strikes to end it.

Gonzalez's bat splintered as he smashed it into the ground in frustration.

Chacin (0-3) gave up an RBI double in the third to Ellis, who made it 7-0 with a two-run shot in the fifth, his second of the season. The seven earned runs Chacin allowed were a career worst.

Gordon led off the game with his first career homer, a no-doubt shot off the second deck in right field, and Ethier homered into the bullpen in right-center following singles by Mark Ellis and Kemp to make it 4-0.

Lilly's only mistake among his 79 pitches was a fat fastball that Gonzalez sent into the right-field seats for a two-run homer, his fifth, in the sixth inning that made it 7-2.

The Rockies tagged Josh Lindblom for three runs on four hits in the seventh.

Chris Nelson hit a run-scoring double and pinch-hitter Tyler Colvin a two-run homer to right that made it 7-5. In just two-thirds of an inning, Lindblom gave up as many hits as Lilly did. With the tying run at the plate, lefty Scott Elbert came on and retired Gonzalez on a groundout.

Troy Tulowitzki led off the eighth with a triple against Kenley Jansen, and Todd Helton drove him home with a sacrifice fly that left fielder Tony Gwynn Jr. tracked down at the wall in the power alley, making it 7-6. Jansen gave up a two-out single to Ramon Hernandez but struck out pinch-hitter Jason Giambi to end the threat.

Notes

Left-hander Josh Outman impressed the Rockies with his one inning of work Monday at Triple-A Colorado Springs as he inches closer to joining Colorado's bullpen. Outman (oblique) hit 95 mph with his fastball, manager Jim Tracy said. ... Tracy said Rosario is getting enough playing time at catcher to avoid stunting his development. Tracy noted the experience Rosario is gaining from watching and listening to Hernandez is as much a teaching tool as is playing. ... The Rockies know about fast starts like the Dodgers are enjoying. They opened 17-8 last year only to fade fast. "You have to be mindful that the season isn't one month long, it's six," Tracy said. "A good month does not a season make." ... The rubber game of the series today pits Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (2-0) against Drew Pomeranz (0-1).