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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
PHOENIX (AP) – Shawn Green has grown more comfortable in Dodger
blue, and his bat is showing it.
|  | | Shawn Green, right, is congratulated by Gary Sheffield after hitting his second home run of the night. |
Green hit two home runs and another Arizona starting pitcher had
a rough night Thursday as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the
Diamondbacks 5-4.
"I feel a lot more comfortable," Green said of his second
season since being acquired from Toronto. "I know the guys on my
team. It's nice to have seen different pitchers and play in
different parks. It definitely makes things a lot easier this
season."
Green hit a leadoff homer in the second and a two-out, three-run
shot in the third, both off Armando Reynoso (0-2).
It was the second two-homer game of the season for Green. He hit
two in the Dodgers' 10-4 victory over San Francisco last Saturday.
Green said he'd worked in the offseason to shorten his swing.
"This year it's a lot shorter," Green said. "It's the swing
that I had before last year. Now I'm just trying to maintain it and
keep it hopefully until the end of the season."
Luis Gonzalez hit his major league leading seventh home run for
Arizona, which finished its first homestand of the season 1-5 and
lost two of three to the Dodgers.
Arizona's second run came on a pinch-hit homer by David Dellucci
off reliever Matt Herges to lead off the seventh.
Andy Ashby (2-0) beat the Diamondbacks for the second time in a
week, allowing one run and seven hits in five innings. Jeff Shaw
got three outs for his third save, but not without a scare.
Pinch-hitter Greg Colbrunn hit a two-out, two-run home run
before Shaw struck out Gonzalez to end the game.
"That's the sign of a good pitcher, when you get in a situation
where you know there's a rally going on in front of you, and you're
able to do what you have to do to put the hitter down," Dodgers
manager Jim Tracy said.
"Ashby did it in the fifth inning. Terry Adams did it in the
eighth inning, and after Colbrunn's home run, Jeff Shaw was able to
do it to Gonzalez with two outs in the ninth inning."
Arizona stranded eight runners and had two caught stealing.
Reynoso (0-2) gave up five runs and 10 hits in five innings.
"This was another bad night for me," Reynoso said. "I'm still
leaving some pitches right over the plate. The only thing I have to
do is keep trying. I feel good. The thing is to keep pitching and
keep trying for next time and forget about today."
Not counting Curt Schilling's two-hit shutout in the series
opener against the Dodgers, Arizona's starters gave up 37 runs in
the home stand.
"We just need to get a little bit better pitching from our
pitching staff, then I think our hitters can relax a little more,"
said Arizona's Reggie Sanders. "It seems like all the pressure's
on our hitting right now."
After Green's second-inning homer, Paul LoDuca singled with two
outs, then Alex Cora doubled into the right-center gap with two
outs. But center fielder Steve Finley backhanded the ball on the
run, then relayed it to second baseman Craig Counsell, who threw
LoDuca out at the plate to end the inning.
The Diamondbacks' trouble in the third started with two outs.
Mark Grudzielanek singled, then Gary Sheffield walked on a 3-2
pitch. Green lofted a 2-1 pitch 420 feet into the right field seats
to put Los Angeles up 4-0.
Los Angeles scored its final run in the fourth. Ashby loaded the
bases with fake bunt, lining a ball right past where shortstop Tony
Womack would have been had he not been covering third. The run
scored on Tom Goodwin's sacrifice fly.
Game notes
The Diamondbacks designed OF Emidre Cummings for assignment
and purchased the contract of LHP Troy Brohawn from Triple-A
Tucson. ... 3B Dave Hansen, who broke the middle finger of his left
hand in spring training, will join the Dodgers in San Diego Monday
for tests before being sent to the minors for rehabilitation. ...
Finley was 0-for-3 and finished the six-game home stand 0-for-16,
but he walked six times. ... Dellucci had his first career
pinch-hit homer. ... Colbrunn has five pinch-hit homers.
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RECAPS
Seattle 7
Oakland 3
Boston 8
Baltimore 2
Cleveland 5
Detroit 3
Kansas City 0
Toronto 0
Anaheim 13
Texas 3
Colorado 6
St. Louis 4
Milwaukee 12
Houston 4
San Diego 8
San Francisco 3
Cincinnati 11
Pittsburgh 6
NY Mets 1
Atlanta 0
Los Angeles 5
Arizona 4
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