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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, September 11, 2008

Ramirez propels Dodgers to victory

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Manny Ramirez

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SAN DIEGO — Petco Park is a big ball park. Manny Ramirez makes it look small.

"When he hits the ball in the air, it doesn't come down," Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre said.

Ramirez hit two prodigious two-run homers, both to the deepest part of the park in center field and the Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres, 7-2, last night and extended their lead in the NL West to a season-high 3 1/2 games over Arizona.

The home runs, a 435-foot blast in the fifth off Shawn Estes (2-2) and a 404-foot shot off Dirk Hayhurst in the ninth, were his 523rd and 524th of his career.

It marked the 52nd time Ramirez hit multiple home runs in game, the second with Los Angeles. He has 34 homers this season, 14 since being acquired by the Dodgers in a three-way trade. He has 40 RBIs in 38 games with Dodgers.

Derek Lowe (13-11) allowed one run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings before leaving with a sore knee. It was his third straight victory as the Dodgers won for the 10th time in 11 games.

Lowe was hit in the back of the right knee by a hard one-hopper by Kevin Kouzmanoff.

"You never want to come out of game," Lowe said. "I normally get hit in the calf, but this was kind of below the back of the knee."

CUBS 4, CARDINALS 3: Backup third baseman Felipe Lopez made a fielding error and throwing error on consecutive plays in the second inning, helping visiting Chicago score four runs to beat St. Louis.

Giants 4, Diamondbacks 3: Eugenio Velez hit a two-out, two-run triple in the bottom of the ninth inning as San Francisco completed a three-game sweep of Arizona.

Brewers 4, Reds 3: Mike Cameron singled in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Milwaukee rallied to avoid a three-game sweep by Cincinnati.

Mets 13, Nationals 10: David Wright hit a two-run homer as host New York, which blew a six-run lead, moved 3 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia in the NL East.

Marlins 7, Phillies 3: Josh Willingham snapped a 3-all tie with an RBI double in the eighth and Dan Uggla added a two-run double in the ninth to lead host Florida.

Astros 7, Pirates 4: Miguel Tejada's grand slam broke open a close game in the sixth inning and helped host Houston to its fifth straight win and 13th in 14 games.

Braves 9, Rockies 5: Kelly Johnson homered twice and Chipper Jones hit the 407th homer of his career as host Atlanta used a five-run seventh to beat Colorado.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Rays 4, Red Sox 2: Carlos Pena hit a three-run homer in the top of the 14th as Tampa Bay beat Boston to increase its lead in the AL East to 2 1/2 games over the Red Sox.

White Sox 6, Blue Jays 5: Mark Buehrle (13-11) gave up seven singles and left with a 5-0 lead after 7 1/3 innings as Chicago stopped Toronto's 10-game winning streak.

Twins 7, Royals 1: Kevin Slowey (12-9) allowed four hits in seven innings and Jason Kubel had three hits and two RBIs as host Minnesota improved to 3-11 against the Royals.

Indians 7, Orioles 1: Scott Lewis spaced three hits over eight shutout innings in his major league debut and Kelly Shoppach hit two solo homers for host Cleveland.

Athletics 5, Tigers 2: Ryan Sweeney and Jack Cust hit back-to-back homers in the first inning and host Oakland used six relievers to beat Detroit.

Mariners 8, Rangers 7: Ichiro Suzuki had four hits and moved to within 10 of an eighth straight season with at least 200 hits as host Seattle beat Texas.