Fri Jun 20 10:12:33 2008

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Sweeping away the frustration

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(Sports Network) - The Dodgers had been in the midst of an atrocious free- fall since the end of May, losing 17 out of 23 matchups. But that was before a visit to Cincinnati.

Heading into the three-game set against the Reds, the Dodgers were scuffling through a five-game skid. During that rough patch the squad surrendered a whopping 35 runs, while scoring only 12 themselves.

However, even with all the losses, the Dodgers were in second place and still in striking distance of the NL West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks.

The team went to the Great American Ball Park in hopes of turning around not only their atrocious nine-game road swing, but their entire season as well. After grabbing wins on Tuesday and Wednesday by scoring margins of 3-1 and 6-1, the Dodgers completed the three-game sweep of the Reds on Thursday with a 7-4 victory.

The Dodgers used Eric Stults on the hill, and the southpaw was outstanding in his season debut, allowing just one run in six strong innings of work. Stults was brought up to replace Brad Penny who was placed on the disabled list with a sore shoulder.

Matt Kemp homered in the game and also collected a double while driving in three runs. James Loney added three hits and finished with one RBI.

"We started off slow, but at the end, we finished up strong," Kemp said of the Dodgers' now-completed 4-5 road trip. "We've got three tough series ahead of us. We've got to repeat what we did these three games to get to the house. We came together and got the job done these past three games. Hopefully we can carry it back home."

It was a shocking sweep for the Dodgers, who are only 16-23 away from home this season. Also before facing the Reds, Los Angeles was just 2-11 against opponents from the Central.

"Right now...our quality is a lot better and the approach is a lot better," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "Once the approach improves on a regular basis, I think the results will improve. It's important to have the quality be the same and the approach be the same, because that's the only way the team is going to get [the] confidence that they need to go out there and compete every day."

Although the Dodgers are still just 34-38 on the year, the team is just 4 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks and will begin a nine-game home stand on Friday against the Cleveland Indians.

DISABLED LIST

Unfortunately the Dodgers continue to get hit with the injury bug, as the team will now be with out two more starting pitchers in Brad Penny and Hiroki Kuroda. As mentioned earlier, Penny hit the DL back on June 15th with pain in his shoulder.

Keeping Penny company will be Kuroda, who soon will take some time on the DL with tendinitis and an impingement in his right shoulder.

WHO'S HOT

James Loney has been scorching in the month of June, batting .421 (24-for-57), and has struck out only four times, while collecting eight walks.

WHO'S NOT

Before landing on the DL, Penny was not pitching like the ace LA needed, in fact the right-hander had not won since May 2nd, and was in the midst of a personal five-game losing streak. At this point in time, the veteran hurler is just 5-9 with an atrocious 5.88 ERA.

ON DECK

Los Angeles enjoyed a much needed day of rest yesterday, but now the Dodgers must get back to business tonight when they open a three-game set against the Cleveland Indians. The homestand will also include visits from the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.