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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Los Angeles Dodgers used a one-two punch from their lineup at the start of the game, and a one-two punch
from their bullpen at the end to avoid a three-game sweep against
the Arizona Diamondbacks.
|  | | Diamondbacks pitcher Brian Anderson kills time as Mark Grudzielanek rounds the bases after his home run. |
Tom Goodwin and Mark Grudzielanek homered on consecutive pitches in the first inning and Andy Ashby won his Dodgers debut, leading Los Angeles to a 7-5 victory Thursday night.
Jeff Shaw pitched the ninth, converting his 17th straight save chance and second this season. He allowed an RBI single to Damian
Miller before getting the final two outs.
"We had the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning, and
that's all you can ask," Arizona's Steve Finley said. "We got down early, but we battled. This team's not going to give up. We're going to keep coming at you. This team reminds me a lot of our '99 team. Up and down the lineup, we've got guys who can put the bat on the ball, and our bench has guys who can swing the bat."
Terry Adams relieved Ashby and retired the four batters he faced, striking out Luis Gonzalez, Matt Williams and Finley in the eighth.
"He's got his slider and his fastball right now, and he's almost unhittable," Shaw said. "He made the mid-to-upper 90s tonight and he made some quality pitches. He made it through the meat of their order unscathed."
Ashby (1-0) allowed four runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings,
including a two-run homer in the fifth by pinch-hitter Erubiel
Durazo and a two-run single by Tony Womack in the seventh. But he recorded 13 of his 20 outs on grounders.
"That was vintage Ashby," said Finley, a teammate of Ashby's
for four seasons in San Diego. "He kept the ball down and it was
really moving. And when he does that, he's really effective and
gets a lot of ground balls. He was changing speeds with his
fastball really nice."
Ashby, a two-time All-Star who signed a $22.5 million,
three-year contract in December, was 12-13 with a 4.94 ERA last
season with Philadelphia and Atlanta. He has been reunited with
Kevin Brown, his teammate in 1998 when they pitched the San Diego Padres to the NL pennant.
"I've always loved pitching here," said Ashby, who is 7-1
lifetime at Dodger Stadium. "It feels good to get the first one
out of the way. I'm excited. I think we're going to have a fun year.
"It's great to be back with Kevin, but I'm excited about being
here with everyone. When you look around this room and see (Darren)
Dreifort and Chan Ho (Park) and Brownie and (Eric) Gagne, I don't
think anyone in here doesn't think that we can do it."
Los Angeles, which had five hits in each of its first three
games, matched that total in the first two innings against Brian Anderson (0-1), who gave up six runs -- five earned -- and seven hits in four innings.
Goodwin homered on a 3-2 pitch for the Dodgers' first hit this season in 14 at-bats from the leadoff spot, and Grudzielanek followed with his drive.
Anderson allowed 38 homers last season, second-most in the
majors behind Jose Lima's 48 with Houston.
Alex Cora hit an RBI triple in the second and scored on a squeeze bunt by Ashby, leaping to avoid the sweep tag by Miller and
bowling over umpire Lance Barksdale before touching home plate.
Throwing errors by Miller and by Anderson -- the latter on an
attempted pickoff of Shawn Green at first -- helped make it 6-0 in the fourth. Paul Lo Duca singled home a run and scored as Miller fielded Ashby's sacrifice in front of the plate and threw wildly to third.
Gary Sheffield drove in the Dodgers' final run with a sacrifice fly.
Game notes
Two of the Dodgers' runs were unearned. The Diamondbacks allowed 56 unearned runs last season, the second-fewest in the NL behind Chicago's 55. ... Brad Cresse, the son of former Dodgers
bullpen coach Mark Cresse and the catcher on LSU's 2000 College
World Series championship team, is starting his second professional
season with the Diamondbacks' Double-A club in El Paso, Texas. ...
Williams needs six more RBI to increase his NL career total to
1,000. He had 105 in the AL with Cleveland, all in 1997.
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RECAPS
Toronto 11
Tampa Bay 0
Minnesota 9
Detroit 5
NY Yankees 1
Kansas City 0
Baltimore 2
Boston 1
Anaheim 10
Texas 3
Cincinnati 4
Pittsburgh 1
Chicago Cubs 2
Montreal 1
Colorado 11
St. Louis 2
NY Mets 7
Atlanta 1
Houston 8
Milwaukee 2
Los Angeles 7
Arizona 5
San Francisco 8
San Diego 2
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