Sat Aug 16 11:11:57 2008

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Dodgers hope to continue home success against Brewers

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(Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Dodgers have surged back to the top of the National League's West division on the strength of dominating play at home. Joe Torre's squad will try to maintain its recent success at Dodger Stadium in tonight's continuation of a three-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers.

Los Angeles moved to 5-0 on its current 10-game homestand and recorded its seventh straight win as the host with Friday's 5-3 decision over the Brewers. Chad Billingsley threw seven strong innings for the surging Dodgers, while recently-acquired Casey Blake went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer on the evening.

Jeff Kent also collected three hits for Los Angeles, including an RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning that snapped a 3-3 tie.

Billingsley (12-9) allowed three runs over the first two frames but kept the Brewers off the scoreboard over the remainder of his seven-inning stint. Milwaukee managed just five hits off the young right-hander, who is now 8-2 over his last 10 decisions.

Brewers starter Manny Parra (9-6) received the loss after being touched for four runs and 10 hits through the first 5 2/3 innings.

Gabe Kapler led Milwaukee offensively with a pair of hits, including a two-run homer. The Brewers have lost two in a row after matching a season high with an eight-game win streak.

Both clubs are right in thick of the NL playoff chase. The Dodgers enter Saturday's play tied with Arizona for first place in the NL West, while Milwaukee presently sports a two-game advantage on St. Louis for the lead in the wild-card race.

Los Angeles figures to have a good opportunity to extend its home winning streak tonight, considering the way Derek Lowe has pitched at Dodger Stadium this season. The veteran sinker specialist is 7-5 with a 2.11 earned run average over 13 home starts in 2008, and opponents are hitting just .211 against him at Chavez Ravine.

Over his five most recent home starts, Lowe is 3-2 with an excellent 1.78 ERA. That includes a winning effort over Philadelphia on Monday in which he held the Phillies to three runs on five hits through 6 1/3 frames.

Lowe has faced Milwaukee seven times, five as a starter, and owns a 2-1 record with a 3.82 ERA in those games. The 35-year-old had a no-decision against the Brewers at Miller Park on May 14, when he gave up four runs in six innings.

His mound opponent tonight, Milwaukee's Dave Bush, has not garnered much success when pitching on the road this year. The right-hander is just 2-6 with a 6.19 ERA over 10 games (9 starts) at visiting parks and was skipped in the rotation for a time when the Brewers played away from home.

However, Bush did come through with an excellent outing in his most recent road start, an 8-1 win at Cincinnati on August 5 in which he permitted just one run and three hits over seven innings. The 28-year-old backed that effort up with 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball to defeat Washington at Miller Park on Monday.

Bush is 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in two career starts against Los Angeles, but lost his only appearance at Dodger Stadium. That came during the 2006 season, with Bush being tagged for six runs (4 earned) before exiting after six innings.

The Dodgers won two of three games against the Brewers earlier this season and are 5-1 over the last six meetings between these teams. Milwaukee has dropped eight of its last nine at Dodger Stadium.