Dodgers 3, Rockies 1

The Dodgers get some good pitching to avoid the sweep of the Rockies.

Derek Lowe got the win, he's 10-10. Jorge De La Rosa took the loss, he's 6-7. Jonathan Broxton picked up his 10th save.

Derek Lowe went 6 and 1/3 innings, giving up just one run on four hits and two walks, while striking out seven. It was an odd game for Lowe, who threw 107 pitches by the time he was pulled in the 7th, and only had six groundouts in the game. Hong-Chih Kuo came in and pitched a scoreless 1 and 2/3 innings striking out two and Jonathan Broxton gave up a double, but struck out the side in the 9th for the save.

The Dodger offense found themselves scoring only three runs again. They've scored three runs in their last three consecutive games and have done it four times in their last five games. They are 1-3 in those four games. Manny Ramírez went 1-2 with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored. Matt Kemp went 1-4 with a double and a run scored. Andre Ethier went 1-4 with a RBI. James Loney had the best day for the Dodgers. He went 2-3, with a homerun, two RBIs, and a run scored.

The Diamondbacks won today, completing their sweep of the San Diego Padres, so the Dodgers will remain two games back in the NL West. The Dodgers now travel to Philadelphia to begin a four game series, starting tomorrow at 4:05 L.A. time.

Also: James Loney's two RBIs give him 70 on the year, good for first place on the Dodgers... Today was a day of "10"s: James Loney hit his 10th homerun, Derek Lowe got his 10th win, Hong-Chih Kuo picked up his 10th hold, and Jonathan Broxton picked up his 10th save.

Opinion: Hard to say this game was a must win with over a month left in the season, but going into Philadelphia after suffering a sweep at the hands of the Rockies at home would have been tough... The last two days, I've complained that we've gotten way too many hits to only score three runs on. Well, today, the Dodgers collected just the right amount of hits to score three runs on (five). We are going to need to do better than that... It was good to see the bullpen come through today after struggling the last three games... Speaking of 10s, we are beginning a 10 game road trip tomorrow in Philadelphia. This is a team that knows how to hit (especially in their park), knows how to pitch, and has an excellent bullpen. Plus, they probably aren't too happy after we swept them in four games last week. We are really going to need to be on our game. Arizona will be taking on the Florida Marlins, who aren't playing as well as they were earlier this year, but still might be able to help us out. We'll find out...