Blake's grand slam leads Dodgers over Rockies

DENVER (AP) -- Casey Blake 's patience gave the Dodgers a much-needed win on their uphill climb for the postseason.

He hit a grand slam on a full count in Los Angeles' five-run eighth inning Friday night and the Dodgers beat Ubaldo Jimenez and the Colorado Rockies 6-2.

Jimenez (17-5) made his fourth unsuccessful attempt for a franchise-record 18th win.

" It just seems we're not as tentative,'' Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. " That's a big part of it, and I credit the top of the order."

The top four hitters in the Dodgers' order went 7 for 17 with three walks. Leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik began the eighth with and Ryan Theriot walked before Andre Ethier doubled to the gap in right-center to tie the game at 1.

Matt Belisle , who had not given up an earned run in 16 games since July 24, got Matt Kemp to ground out, and left-handed hitting James Loney was walked to get to Blake.

" Bases loaded, I knew he was going to try to come right at me, maybe induce a ground ball,'' Blake said. " I just wanted to be aggressive. Got into some hitters' counts, laid off a couple tough pitches. I got a piece of the first 3-2 pitch barely. It was a pretty good pitch, kind of low and away. Then finally got a good one to hit."

Blake drove Belisle's 3-2 pitch into the stands in left-center for his 14th homer of the season and fifth career grand slam.

The Dodgers are 7-3 against the Rockies this season and 21-7 dating to the start of the 2009 season. The loss ended Colorado's four-game winning streak and was just their third defeat in their past 13 games at Coors Field, where they are 41-21 (.661).

Jimenez retired the Dodgers in order just once but took a 1-0 lead into the eighth thanks to Todd Helton 's fifth homer of the season and the first in his career off left-hander Clayton Kershaw .

" I don't even think about No. 18,'' Jimenez said. " I want to find a way to keep the game close. I just want to win. I still had my velocity. They were able to hit some balls. I walked Theriot and then I tried to throw a fastball away to Ethier and the ball caught too much of the plate. I thought I would face Ethier. They gave me a chance to continue. I was all right" .

Helton, a left-handed hitter, came to bat in the second inning 4 for 18 with no RBIs and seven strikeouts lifetime against Kershaw, who walked two and struck out six in six innings before giving way to Jonathan Broxton (5-4).

He gave up a run-scoring single to Melvin Mora with two outs in the eighth and was relieved by Hong-Chih Kuo. The left-handed Kuo threw a called third strike past a disbelieving Helton to end that inning and worked the ninth to earn his sixth save.

Jimenez remains tied with Kevin Ritz , who won 17 games in 1996, Pedro Astacio (1999) and Jeff Francis (2007). Since winning his 17th game on Aug. 4, Jimenez has gone 0-3 with a 3.21 ERA in four starts.

Torre was unsurprised that Jimenez started the eighth.

" I certainly didn't expect him to come out of the game if he feels good enough and obviously he did,'' Torre said. " Jimenez, even if it's 80 percent of him, that's still better than 100 percent of a lot of people."

Jimenez pitched seven innings Aug. 10 at New York and lost 1-0. Jimenez left with a 5-3 lead against Milwaukee on Aug. 15, but closer Huston Street blew a save in the ninth before the Rockies won 6-5 in their half of the inning. And Jimenez gave up three runs in six innings Sunday at Arizona in a 3-1 loss.

His ERA rose slightly to 2.71, approaching his season-high of 2.75 on July 24 after he was knocked out in the third inning at Philadelphia.

The Dodgers added a run in the ninth when Franklin Morales issued consecutive two-out walks and Kemp followed with a run-scoring single off Samuel Deduno , who was making his major league debut.

Notes: Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal (low back strain) ran in the outfield. He will take ground balls Saturday and possibly be sent on a rehab assignment Monday. ... Rockies RHP Aaron Cook is scheduled to throw about 85 pitches Saturday on his second rehab start for Double-A Tulsa. If he comes through that fine, Cook will start Sept. 2 against Philadelphia in a makeup game at Coors Field. ... Francis (left biceps soreness) threw a 39-pitch bullpen session. He will throw again in the bullpen before facing hitters in a simulated game. ... Dodgers RHP Vicente Padilla (bulging disc, neck) threw a bullpen session.

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