Dodgers are led by unassuming James Loney in 9-4 victory over Yankees
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All the superstars, all the guys on magazine covers, with press clippings galore and starlets in the wings, and none of the glamour boys from the storied Yankees or Dodgers made the big difference Saturday.
It was James Loney.
The smooth, quiet, unassuming, under-the-radar Loney.
Loney drove in a run in each of his first three at-bats, leading the Dodgers to a 9-4 victory over the Yankees.
Loney finished with four RBI, and what might come as something of a shock to most casual baseball followers, there wasn’t a player on the field with more runs batted in this season.
Loney currently leads the Dodgers with 51 RBI. More than heralded slugger Manny Ramirez. More than superstars-in-waiting Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier.
And no one on the Yankees has more, either. Not his first base counterpart with the $180-million contract, Mark Teixeira. Not new star Robinson Cano. Only Alex Rodriguez could match his RBI total.
Yet while others garner most of the attention, Loney is quietly putting together his finest and most consistent season.
Loney is batting .296 with five home runs, those 51 RBI, a team-high 22 doubles, and already he has a career-high nine stolen bases.
The Dodgers needed some offensive output Saturday, after Teixeira gave the Yankees a quick lead with a three-run homer in the first off Hiroki Kuroda.
The Dodgers got two back in the bottom of the inning on Ramreiz’s RBI double and Loney’s sacrifice fly.
Trailing 4-2 in the third, the Dodgers tied the score on Loney’s bases-loaded single. Russell Martin grounded into a double play, but was able to force in the go-ahead run.
The Dodgers added two more in the fourth, one on another bases-loaded single by Loney and a second on Casey Blake’s double. The Dodgers pushed in their final two in the seventh on a Rafael Furcal single and Kemp double.
Kuroda (7-5), who had allowed only two earned runs in his last three starts, gave up more than that in the first. But he settled down, allowing only one more run in his 5 1/3 innings.
When he got in some trouble in the sixth, allowing a single and walk with one out, Manager Joe Torre went to the increasingly reliable Hong-Chih Kuo.
The hard-throwing left-hander got out of that jam in only five pitches, and then pitched a one-two-three seventh. Kuo now has a 1.12 earned-run average and has struck out 29 and walked seven in 23 1/3 innings. Left-handed hitters are 0-for-25 against him.
--Steve Dilbeck