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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, June 27, 2009

Dodgers' Ethier belts 3 in 8-2 win


Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Andre Ethier homered three times in four at-bats and drove in six against Seattle.

HECTOR MATA | Associated Press

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LOS ANGELES — Andre Ethier was about 12 years old when he attended a winter baseball camp in Phoenix that was run by Don Wakamatsu, now the manager of the Seattle Mariners.

Fifteen years later, Ethier put on an impressive power display against Wakamatsu's team, hitting three home runs and driving in a career-high six runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers in an 8-2 victory over the Mariners last night.

"I saw him as a young player at (Arizona State) and saw his talent there," Wakamatsu said. "He hit three different pitches off three different pitchers, and that was awfully impressive."

Ethier gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead in the second, driving a 1-1 pitch from Jason Vargas (3-3) to center field after Casey Blake led off with a double and James Loney singled.

Ethier made it 7-2 in the sixth with a drive into the right-field pavilion off Roy Corcoran after Russell Martin was hit by a pitch. The Dodgers' right fielder capped his first three-homer game with a leadoff shot in the eighth off Miguel Batista.

"It was a lot of fun. It's something I never dreamed of before," Ethier said. "It's one of those unlikely things that's a nice individual accomplishment, and if it helps the team and makes the outcome better for us, so be it. But I don't expect home runs now just because of this."

Ethier has hit 13 of his 14 homers this season at Dodger Stadium.

He became the 15th player to hit three or more home runs for the Dodgers and the first since Hee-Seop Choi on June 12, 2005, against Minnesota at Dodger Stadium.

Clayton Kershaw (5-5) allowed two runs and five hits over six innings and struck out eight for the Dodgers.

Yankees 9, Mets 1: Three errors by Mets infielders led to a four-run second inning, and Alex Rodriguez of the visiting Yankees added his 564th home run to pass Reggie Jackson on the career list. Yankees leadoff batter Brett Gardner had a career-high five hits. Rodriguez made it 7-1 with a two-run shot in the eighth, his 11th this season. The Yankees' CC Sabathia (7-4) allowed three hits in seven innings, struck out eight and walked one.

Cubs 5, White Sox 4: Geovany Soto hit a three-run homer to back another solid start by Randy Wells and the visiting Cubs broke a four-game losing streak. Soto hit a three-run homer off Jose Contreras (2-7) in the seventh to give the Cubs a 5-2 lead. Wells (2-3) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings.

Indians 9, Reds 2: Jeremy Sowers pitched into the eighth inning for his first win as a starter this season and Ryan Garko hit a two-run homer to lead host Cleveland to its second win in 10 games. Sowers (2-5), who began the season in Triple-A, allowed two runs and six hits in his longest outing since Sept. 9, when he went eight in a win at Baltimore.

Astros 5, Tigers 4: Miguel Tejada had a double and drove in two runs to lead host Houston over Detroit, snapping the Tigers' seven-game winning streak. Tejada doubled in the third inning for the Astros' first run and drove in the winning run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth that followed Jeff Keppinger's bases-loaded walk that made it 4-4.

Blue Jays 6, Phillies 1: Ricky Romero held Philadelphia hitless for six innings and Aaron Hill hit a two-run double for host Toronto. Romero (5-3) allowed two hits, walked one and struck out seven. He gave up a hit to Chase Utley leading off the seventh and Jayson Werth followed with an infield single.

Pirates 5, Royals 3: Virgil Vasquez went six innings for his first major league win as host Pittsburgh beat Kansas City. Vasquez (1-0), recalled after Thursday's game, allowed two runs and four hits while striking out seven. Nyjer Morgan, Jason Jaramillo and Jack Wilson homered for Pittsburgh.

Red Sox 4, Braves 1: Josh Beckett threw seven more scoreless innings against Atlanta and David Ortiz homered for visiting Boston. Beckett (9-3) has faced the Braves twice in the past seven days — and still hasn't given up a run.

Orioles 11, Nationals 1: Rookie Brad Bergesen allowed four hits in six innings to win his fourth straight decision and Melvin Mora had four RBIs for host Baltimore. Bergesen (5-2) gave up one run, struck out five and walked two. He is 4-0 in six starts since May 24.

Rays 7, Marlins 3: B.J. Upton's three-run double snapped an eighth-inning tie for host Tampa Bay. Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford also drove in runs as the AL champions ended Florida's five-game winning streak.

Rangers 12, Padres 2: David Murphy and Hank Blalock homered for Texas, and Kevin Millwood won his fifth straight decision at home. Millwood (8-5) allowed two runs over six innings. He is 6-1 with a 2.17 ERA in nine home starts.

Angels 12, Diamondbacks 3: Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer to cap an eight-run second inning and visiting Los Angeles beat Arizona. The Angels' Jered Weaver (8-3) gave up three runs and four hits in six innings for the fifth victory in his last six starts.

Rockies 4, Athletics 2: Garrett Atkins had three hits and two RBIs, Jason Hammel remained unbeaten in June and visiting Colorado beat Oakland. Hammel allowed only four hits, struck out five and walked two to finish 4-0 this month.

Twins 3, Cardinals 1: Glen Perkins worked seven solid innings and visiting Minnesota got RBI singles from Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer. Perkins (3-4) allowed four hits, walked none and struck out three.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Brewers 5, Giants 1: Yovani Gallardo outdueled Matt Cain and Ryan Braun drove in two runs for host Milwaukee. Gallardo (8-4) gave up a first-inning home run to Pablo Sandoval before settling down to retire 16 batters in a row. Cain (9-2) tied his season-high by allowing five runs and matched his season high with nine strikeouts.