The return of Andre Ethier power hitter in Dodgers’ 8-5 victory
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And on a gorgeous Monday evening, there was an Andre Ethier sighting.
That would be two-time All-Star Andre Ethier, not the right-fielder who had been struggling since the break.
Ethier, who was batting .152 (3 for 35) without one RBI since the All-Star break, crushed a two-run homer in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie.
With rookie Rubby De La Rosa allowing only three hits in his six innings, and with the Dodgers surviving a rough ninth inning, they went on to win 8-5 for their third consecutive victory before an announced crowd of 28,860.
De La Rosa (4-4) allowed only three hits, all singles, in his six innings. The three hits came consecutively with two outs in the third, Dexter Fowler’s basehit scoring the Colorado run.
But in the third, back-to-back doubles by Rafael Furcal and Aaron Miles off Juan Nicasio (4-3) tied it and set the stage for Ethier.
Ethier jumped on Nicasio’s first pitch, hitting it several rows up the right-field pavilion. It been awhile since Ethier hit a ball that hard.
The Dodgers’ offense was on its way to its biggest output since a 15-0 victory over the Twins on June 27. Also known as the day Frank McCourt filed for bankruptcy. They added two more in the sixth after Ethier led off with a walk. One out later Juan Rivera doubled to left. With Ethier running hard on the drive, third base coach Tim Wallach waved him home and he scored on a nice slide, nipping the plate with his outstretched left hand.
Dioner Navarro singled to score Rivera, and the Dodgers were comfortably up by four with more to come.
The Dodgers added three more in the eighth against reliever Esmil Rogers, after loading the bases on a walk and singles by Tony Gwynn Jr. and Jamey Carroll.
The Dodgers scored one when the Rockies couldn’t turn a double play on a Furcal grounder, a second on a Miles’ line-drive single off the glove of second baseman Mark Ellis and a third on a bloop single by Ethier.
That gave Ethier three RBI on the night, or one more than he’d had in past 13 games combined.
De La Rosa walked four and struck out five in his six innings. The hard-throwing right-hander hit 100 mph four times.
Relievers Kenley Jansen and Matt Guerrier each threw a scoreless inning, before a wild Hong-Chih Kuo (two walks, one single) started a four-run Colorado rally in the ninth.
Mike MacDougal didn’t prove anymore effective. He gave up a run-scoring single and walked in a run, though Carroll’s throwing error didn’t help.
The Dodgers finally called on rookie Javy Guerra to end the rally, the right-hander getting the final two outs for his team-high eighth save.
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