LAD@PIT: Hanley laces a two-run home run to take lead
PITTSBURGH — For a team that’s had so much to smile about lately, the Dodgers sure were angry Thursday afternoon at PNC Park.
Manager Don Mattingly and center fielder Matt Kemp were both ejected in the second inning, and starter Joe Blanton, who had a few words for home-plate umpire Angel Campos upon his departure in the fifth, was tossed as well. Blanton gave up eight runs — including three homers — and issued a season-high four walks, as the Dodgers dropped the finale of a four-game series to the Pirates, 10-6, in front of 25,073 fans at PNC Park. Kemp struck out in his first-inning at-bat, and he was yelling from the dugout with Andre Ethier hitting an inning later. Campos ejected him, and Mattingly got the boot, too, when the manager came out to argue. Besides perhaps a strike zone that he found disagreeable, Blanton’s biggest tormenter on Thursday was Pirates right fielder Garrett Jones, who hit two three-run homers, one in the first inning and another in the fifth. The second big fly came on an 0-2 pitch and gave Jones his 19th home run of the season and a career-high six RBIs in the game. In 4 1/3 innings, Blanton threw 99 pitches, 62 for strikes. He also struck out four. In addition to Jones’ homers, Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez hit a solo shot off Blanton in the fifth inning. The Dodgers right-hander also gave up a run-scoring triple to Clint Barmes in the fourth. All those runs were hard to keep up with for Los Angeles, which hit Pittsburgh starter A.J. Burnett harder than he’s used to, but not hard enough. The Dodgers went yard twice off the Pirates’ ace. James Loney hit a solo shot in the second inning, and Hanley Ramirez went deep with a two-run shot in the fourth. Before Ramirez’s homer, Mark Ellis also scored on a throwing error by Alvarez. After working a 3-0 count in his next at-bat, Ramirez struck out swinging against Burnett in the sixth. And like his teammates before him, Ramirez let Campos know he wasn’t pleased. The Dodgers scored two more runs off Burnett in the seventh inning. After loading the bases, they added a couple when Ellis reached on an infield single and Juan Rivera was hit by a pitch. That prompted Pirates manager Clint Hurdle to pull Burnett, who allowed six runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. He racked up seven strikeouts while issuing one walk and hitting two batters. After Los Angeles managed to cut the deficit to two runs in the top of the seventh, Pittsburgh got them both back in its half, when Barmes singled to left off reliever Jamey Wright with the bases loaded. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Dodgers, who had also won nine in a row against the Pirates.
Mark Emery is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
