Phoenix, AZ (Best E Casino) - Manny Ramirez went 4-for-5 with a double and two solo home runs as the
Los Angeles Dodgers snapped a season-high eight-game losing streak with a much-needed 6-2 victory over the
Arizona Diamondbacks.
Chad Billingsley (13-10) scattered nine hits and two runs en route to getting the win for his seven-plus innings on the mound. The starter also set a career high in wins and recorded six strikeouts.
Matt Kemp had two hits, including a two-run homer for the Dodgers, who moved to within 3 1/2 games of Arizona for the NL West lead.
Dan Haren (14-7), who had won six of his previous seven decisions, was knocked around for 10 hits and five runs in his six-inning start for Arizona, which has fallen in five of its last six contests.
"Even though I'm not walking guys, my command just isn't there," Haren said. "I've been throwing plenty of strikes, but the strikes aren't just a quality as they have been in the past. I'm battling through a little bit, some funk with my mechanics."
Chris Young fell a homer short of the cycle while driving in both D-Backs runs.
Ramirez's two-out, solo homer in the third was offset by Young's RBI triple in the bottom half.
The Dodgers took the lead for good an inning later. With runners in scoring position, Angel Berroa bounced a ball in the hole between short and third. Stephen Drew made a backhanded stop but his off-balanced throw to first skipped into the dugout, allowing both runners to score.
With Ramirez standing on base following his one-out double in the fifth, Kemp connected on an opposite-field blast that found the right-field seats for his 16th homer of the year.
Ramirez came calling again in the seventh, going the other way and sending his ninth home run in Dodger blue off the right-field foul pole with one gone in the seventh.
"He's pretty remarkable," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said of his slugger. "But again, I've watched this for a number of years. He's one of the best right-hand hitters that ever played the game, in my lifetime. He doesn't give an at-bat away, he just keeps going after it. It doesn't matter what the score is, what the situation is. These young kids could learn a lot from watching him."
Billingsley kept Arizona silent until back-to-back doubles from Drew and Young, the latter of which bringing in a run, ended the righty's night in the eighth.
Hong-Chih Kuo registered the final three outs of that inning and struck out the side in the ninth to finish off the win.
Game Notes
Ramirez's double in the fifth was the 500th of his career. Ramirez is 8-for-9 in the series...The Dodgers also snapped a 10-game road losing streak...LA's Jeff Kent did not play due to knee pain...In three previous starts against Arizona this year, Billingsley was 0-3 with a 7.71 earned run average...The Diamondbacks are 8-6 against Los Angeles in 2008.