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PHOENIX(AP) Perfectly miserable in Arizona on Aug. 15,
Jonathan Broxton
has been almost perfect since.
Broxton converted his ninth straight save and 34th of the season in the
Los Angeles Dodgers
' 5-4 victory over the Diamondbacks on Tuesday night, getting the final out when he leaped to spear
Justin Upton
's grounder with the tying run on first base.
Broxton has not allowed an earned run in his last 14 appearances since giving up back-to-back home runs to
Mark Reynolds
and
Miguel Montero
in the ninth inning on Aug. 15. It was the only two-homer game of his career.
''Everybody is going to do that sooner or later. It's just one of those things you have to get out your mind,'' Broxton said.
Boxton has five saves in the last eight days, seven in the last 13. He is 7-1 with a 2.53 ERA, striking out 102 in 67 2/3
innings.
''It's fun,'' Broxton said of the workload.
''It's that extra adrenaline out there. Just trying to go out and get strike one. I didn't do it enough tonight, but we were
lucky enough to get out of it with the victory.''
Ronnie Belliard
had the last of the Dodgers' five two-out singles in the eighth inning to break a tie and lift them to their third straight
victory.
Arizona right-hander
Billy Buckner
limited them to one run in seven innings, backed by a franchise record-tying five double plays.
''It's a good sign. Most of the night, it was frustrating as all get out, there's no question about it,'' Dodgers manager
Joe Torre
said. ''Buckner was terrific. It looked like he was throwing the ball down the middle, but it had late movement and they just
couldn't get the thing centered.''
The Dodgers (83-57) struck for four runs off three Arizona relievers in the eighth inning to send the Diamondbacks (61-79)
to their sixth straight defeat.
Russell Martin
singled off
Blaine Boyer
with one out in the eighth before
Juan Pierre
beat out a potential double-play grounder by a half-step to keep the inning alive.
Rafael Furcal
singled to center and
Matt Kemp
had an RBI single, making it 4-2 before left-hander
Daniel Schlereth
(0-3) gave up an RBI single by
Andre Ethier
to make it a one-run game.
Right-hander
Esmerling Vasquez
came in and pitched around
Manny Ramirez
, walking him on four pitches to load the bases for
James Loney
, who lined a single to left to tie the game.
Belliard hit a slow chopper toward shortstop, and when Vasquez slipped there was no play as Ethier scored to give the Dodgers
the lead. Belliard is 11 for 31 with seven RBIs in nine games since joining the Dodgers on Aug. 30.
Los Angeles remained 3 1/2 games in front of Colorado in the NL West and remained tied with St. Louis for the best record
in the NL.
James McDonald
(5-4) struck out the side in the seventh for the victory.
Furcal had three hits, and Ethier had two hits and two RBIs.
''The old adage is what Joe preaches, which is to go out and play hard for the whole nine innings,'' said Ethier, who has
94 RBIs. ''Buckner played to our over-aggressiveness. Things didn't look good. Then we turned it around and strung some hits
together.''
Buckner drove in two runs with an infield single in the second and a double in the sixth that made it 4-1. It was his first
career two-hit game.
''Buckner threw great. He reached back and showed us something extra. He pitched just around the strike zone enough to keep
them honest, and our defense played great behind him,'' Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said. ''Obviously the silver lining is
the way he pitched, because once he exited it didn't go very well.''
Los Angeles starter
Chad Billingsley
gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings. He was 8-3 with a 2.72 ERA in his first 14 starts this season but is 3-6
with a 5.24 ERA in his last 15.
NOTES: Los Angeles LHP
Randy Wolf
is the apparent starter Friday. Wolf threw a bullpen session Tuesday, and ''that would line him up for Friday,'' Torre said.
The Dodgers needed a replacement when LHP
Clayton Kershaw
(right shoulder) collided with a field-level scoreboard at Dodger Stadium while shagging fly balls in batting practice Sunday.
RHPs
Hiroki Kuroda
and
Vicente Padilla
are being considered for the Saturday start, Torre said. ... Dodgers 1B
Jim Thome
(heel) missed his second straight game and was unavailable Tuesday. 3B
Casey Blake
(hamstring) missed his fourth=2 0straight start. ... Arizona Cardinals WR Anquan Boldin attended the game, wearing a Dodgers
hat. He and Los Angeles 2B
Orlando Hudson
, a former D-back, are friends.
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